The Trudeau Foundation Papers

The Trudeau Foundation Papers volume v • 2013 The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, an independent and non-partisan Canadian charity, was established in 2001 by family, friends, and colleagues of the former prime minister to honour his memory. In 2002, the Government of Canada endowed the Foundation with a donation of $125 million with the unanimous support of the House of Commons. In addition, the Foundation benefits from private sector donations in support of specific initiatives. Through its scholarship, fellowship, mentorship, and public interaction programs, the Foundation supports outstanding individuals who make meaningful contributions to critical public issues. Human Rights and Dignity | Responsible Citizenship Canada in the World | People & Their Natural Environment interim president and ceo Tim Brodhead directors Michel Bastarache, Ottawa, Ontario Paule Leduc, Montreal, Quebec William G. Davis, Toronto, Ontario John H. McCall MacBain, Geneva, Switzerland David L. Emerson, Vancouver, L. Jacques Ménard, Montreal, Quebec British-Columbia Heather Munroe-Blum, Montreal, Quebec Roy L. Heenan, Montreal, Quebec Patrick Pichette, Mountain View, California Alexander Himelfarb, Ottawa, Ontario Marc Renaud, Montreal, Quebec Chaviva Hošek, Toronto, Ontario Sean E. Riley, Antigonish, Nova Scotia Edward Johnson, Montreal, Quebec Emőke J.E. Szathmáry, Winnipeg, Manitoba Marc Lalonde, Montreal, Quebec Alexandre Trudeau, Montreal, Quebec The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation 600–1980 Sherbrooke Street West Montreal, QC Canada h3h 1e8 trudeaufoundation.ca The Trudeau Foundation Papers, Volume 5 • 2013 isbn 978-2-924202-05-0 (print version) isbn 978-2-924202-06-7 (pdf) Legal Deposit – Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 2013 Legal Deposit – Library and Archives Canada, 2013 Table of Contents Preface John H. McCall MacBain Chairman, The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation 5 Why We Need Public Intellectuals Tim Brodhead Interim President and CEO, The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation 9 Trudeau Position Papers Macartan Humphreys 2011 Visiting Trudeau Fellow, University of British Columbia “Experimental Research, Development Policy, and Agency Politics in the Congo: Reflections on a Null Result” biography / abstract / lecture 14 John McGarry 2011 Trudeau Fellow, Queen’s University “Conflicts and Metaconflicts: Northern Ireland and Lessons for Other Hard Cases” biography / abstract / lecture 40 Haideh Moghissi 2011 Trudeau Fellow, York University “‘The Return of the Sacred’ and the Politics of Cultural Difference” biography / abstract / lecture 82 Ronald Rudin 2011 Trudeau Fellow, Concordia University “The Case for Public Knowledge” biography / abstract / lecture 100 Daniel Weinstock 2004 Trudeau Fellow, McGill University “So, Are You Still a Philosopher?” biography / abstract / lecture 124 Preface This year marked the 10th anniversary of the Trudeau Fellowship Program. Since the first cohort in 2003, the Foundation has selected 50 Trudeau fellows and held 25 Trudeau Lectures at universities across Canada. Each Trudeau fellowship is worth $225,000 and is awarded to individuals who set themselves apart through research achievements, creativity, and commitment to critical social issues of importance to Canada. The Trudeau fellowships offer concrete support and encouragement for highly respected members of Canada and the world’s intellectual trust—original thinkers with strong opinions that often diverge widely. Trudeau fellows possess the talent, drive, and potential to anticipate, understand, and engage in our most pressing challenges, ultimately helping us build a better Canada. Nominations are put forward by an extensive nomination network, and an independent jury of eminent researchers and intellectuals proposes to the Board of Directors a list of fellows on the basis of their leadership qualities, productivity, reputation, and dem- onstrated ability to communicate. In most cases, Trudeau fellows are not aware that they have been nominated until they receive a call from the Foundation. 6 the trudeau foundation papers The Foundation seeks to deepen engagement between the Trudeau fellows and its mentors and scholars, to put the scholars into greater and more meaningful contact with the Foundation’s roster of Canadian intellectuals, and to stimulate new and product- ive collaborations between the three groups. To that effect, in 2013, the Board of Directors received recommendations from a committee tasked with reviewing the Trudeau Fellowship Program and making it even better. The committee, which Dr. Emőke Szathmáry chaired, included Dr. Marc Renaud, Dr. Sean Riley, and Mr. Alexandre Trudeau. I take this opportunity to thank them for their invaluable work, which led to significant adjustments to the Trudeau Fellowship Program. The Foundation has four goals for the reform. First, the Foundation aims to create a stronger network of scholars, mentors, and fellows who meet regularly, develop projects together, share each other’s networks, and transform one another, becoming ever more publicly engaged, more open to differences of politics or persuasion, and more familiar with innovations taking place in disciplines not their own. Second, the Foundation wishes to supply intellectual leadership to inject new ideas and ways of working into its activities. Third, the Foundation seeks to protect Trudeau fellows’ intellectual freedom by allowing them to propose their own means of engagement with the Trudeau community. Fourth, the Foundation aspires to appoint truly bold and innovative thinkers for whom the Trudeau fellowship would make a real difference. As these adjustments are being implemented with the 2014 cohort of Trudeau fellows, I can only make the prediction that they will accomplish great things, contribute significantly to our understanding of the world, and inspire dialogue on issues of importance for all citizens. It is in that same spirit that five years ago, the Foundation launched an annual series of lectures—the Trudeau Lectures— delivered by Trudeau fellows. Hosted by Canadian universities, Preface 7 the lectures disseminate Trudeau fellows’ ideas and publicize the Foundation’s work on campuses and in communities across the country. The lectures give the speakers an opportunity to reflect on their intellectual career and on the institutional framework within which they developed their ideas. The Foundation is building a community of creative and critical thinkers and providing ways for them to work together with the wider public to develop and communicate ideas that matter. Trudeau fellows and their contributions give meaning to the Foundation’s role in supporting outstanding individuals who have the drive and ability to take on some of modern society’s most critical issues. These public intellectuals undoubtedly contribute to generating a rich and stimulating dialogue. I certainly hope that the text of their lectures published herein will inspire scholars in the social sciences and humanities to pursue their work, draw attention to the critical issues of our century, and show how great ideas can transform into concrete improvements for Canada and the world. John H. McCall MacBain Chairman, The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation December 2013 Why We Need Public Intellectuals The term “public intellectual” in English-speaking Canada at least tends to be a bit dismissive, as though intellectual depth must be inversely related to the ability to communicate. One of the aims of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is to encourage a more informed public discussion on themes that are important to Canadians. To do this we seek scholars and fellows who are willing, even eager, to share their thinking and to engage citizens on matters of public significance and indeed to provide policy-makers with a wider array of options to consider in addressing societal challenges. But what, or who, is a “public intellectual”? In a recent book, 2003 Trudeau fellow Janice Stein defines an intellectual as “someone who is passionate about ideas,” and a public intellectual as someone who combines this passion with a deep commitment to “an engaged and informed citizenry.” 1 Given the discipline-based work of the academy, and the increasingly specialized vocabulary used by researchers and academics—often impenetrable to those outside their own field of work—this commitment to public understanding is no small thing. 1. The Public Intellectual in Canada, ed. Nelson Wiseman (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013). 10 the trudeau foundation papers One might posit a continuum of public engagement ranging from those who seek to interpret the latest research findings within their particular discipline in layman’s language, through those who connect their own field to the larger social, economic, and political context, to those rare people who can speak out credibly on public issues unrelated to their own field or discipline. From within the ranks of past and present Trudeau fellows one can identify exam- ples of each of these; they serve as models too for our community of Trudeau scholars. Do we need public intellectuals? We face an avalanche of infor- mation, most of it devoid of context, a never-ending stream of news and opinion (with the distinction between them often blurred or non-existent). The neo-liberal view that the market is the best arbiter of value leaves little room for intrinsic worth or expertise. Opinion trumps knowledge, and everybody has an opinion, so what could be more democratic? In place of the search for truth we

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