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Rosalind Raddatz
2010 Trudeau Scholar
rosalind.raddatz@trudeaufoundation.net
Current Research
Ph.D. Political Science, University of Ottawa
Accounting for Peace: Political Settlements and Democracy in Post-Civil War Sierra Leone and LiberiaBiography
As a result of growing up in many places, Rosalind Raddatz has become an advocate for the concept of global citizenship, whereby we are mutually responsible to and for our fellow humans. This worldview has drawn Raddatz to issues of human rights throughout her professional and academic life.
After receiving a B.A. in Political Science at Concordia University, Raddatz worked for the Canadian Space Agency, the Canadian Mental Health Association and Welcome Hall Mission, where she coordinated and developed communications strategies. Raddatz is also an accomplished photographer, and has taught story-telling techniques and photography at college. Indeed, it was through her career in documentary film and photography, in which she traveled to a number of post-conflict areas, that she found new focus for her future.
After witnessing the aftermath of mass conflict, Raddatz realized that it is those who did not choose to engage in conflict that are typically forced to bear its consequences. These individuals deserve to know and understand how the decisions of a few can affect so many. This conviction motivated Raddatz to return to her studies, obtaining a B.A. (Honours) and an M.A. in Philosophy (Concordia University). During this time she began to explore many of the themes that remain important to her work to this day: individual and collective moral obligations towards distant others, the ethics of foreign intervention in cases of mass conflict and genocide, as well as national and institutional accountability.
Too often, the drama of war and violence captures the world's attention, but the slower, more difficult work of peacebuilding and democratization goes unnoticed. Raddatz's doctoral research focuses on the post-conflict experiences of Sierra Leone and Liberia, particularly peace negotiations and subsequent democratization efforts. The aim of her work is to better understand regional war-to-democracy transition experiences, and identity themes that are common to other conflicts. This will also help Canada, as a country dedicated to peacemaking and the promotion of democracy, make more informed and directed foreign-policy decisions.
Raddatz intends to use her background in documentary film, education and academic research to help foster scholarship, cooperation and dialogue among researchers and policy-shapers in the developed and developing world.Project Description
Accounting for Peace: Political Settlements and Democracy in Post-Civil War Sierra Leone and Liberia
This comparative study assesses the impact of power and resource sharing among former belligerents, third party intervention (as peacekeepers, mediators, as well as parties to the conflict), and civil society in recent peace negotiations and the subsequent democratization of Liberia and Sierra Leone. By evaluating the effectiveness and legitimacy of these countries' last peace agreements, the project will acknowledge the inherent dilemmas in the simultaneous pursuit of peacebuilding and democratization.
The concurrent quest for peace and democracy often results in trade-offs that can undermine both these goals. The dissertation addresses such issues by establishing a theoretical groundwork that supports the idea that the goals of peacebuilding and democratization are often at odds, while affirming that together, power and resource sharing, international intervention, mediation, and social movements encourage warring parties to lay down arms and stop fighting.
This work will contribute to regional scholarship, but also promises to yield general insight that will further studies in peace and democratization.Trudeau Foundation Themes
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