A Tribute to Cranford Pratt

Robert O. Matthews, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, has collaborated with Cranford Pratt on a number of projects, including a co-edited book, Human Rights in Canadian Foreign Policy (1988).ON 26 OCTOBER 2001 A SYMPOSIUM in honour of Cranford Pratt was held at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto. Members of Cran's family, friends, colleagues, and former students came together to pay tribute to a wise scholar, inspiring teacher, committed activist, and thoughtful friend.Some of the most moving tributes came from his former students. As he passed by the 'surrounding poverty and total devastation' in a region in the midst of civil war, Taisier Ali, one of Cran's former doctoral students, reflected on how this evoked 'disconnecting images of Cranford Pratt's concerns' and of their 'shared pre-occupations with building a just society, with patterns of socio-economic and political development as they impact human equality, and with the general problems of transition and affirming human rights.' Now engaged in a struggle for a just peace in his homeland, Taisier speculated that although Pratt was not an 'advocate of armed struggle... he would understand and may even accept it as a legitimate tool' for resisting 'oppression, bigotry and injustice.' Another former doctoral student, Linda Freeman, now of Carleton University, spoke of how 'Cran enabled a generation of students to understand some important truths which have stayed with us. First, that leaders like Julius Nyerere deserved a more careful understanding than what was on offer in the West. Second, in his early commitment to the struggle for liberation in southern Africa, Cran cast a cold eye on the Canadian record and forced an appreciation that it was, at best, ambiguous. Much the same happened when he turned to examine the nature of Canadian development assistance. Most important of all, he gave us the courage to take a critical stance and to accept the inevitable reaction of the powers-that-be.' 'Still proud to call himself one of Cran's students,' a former student-turned-colleague, Richard Stren, spoke of how his own approach to scholarship and teaching 'has always benefited from what I had the privilege to learn from Cran Pratt.' Erika Simpson of the University of Western Ontario, yet another in a legion of former PhD students, praised him for his 'tolerance for opposing views,' his willingness to listen 'with both his mind and heart,' and his tendency to pose 'penetrating questions' rather than simply to subject his students' work to sharp and intimidating criticism.From colleagues, the praise was no less extravagant. For Rhoda Howard-Hassmann of McMaster University: 'His life was dedicated not only to scholarship but to service, especially, but not only, to the people of Africa. His work is infused with a deep humility.' William Tordoff, who had been a colleague at University College, Dar es Salaam, described Cran's book, The Critical Phase in Tanzania, 'as the best book ever written on Tanzanian politics' and his later work on Canadian development assistance as 'enlightened scholarship' that reflected 'Cran's commitment to try and change things for the better in Africa and other parts of the Third World.' Finally, Jonathan Barker described how Cran contributed in small but not insignificant ways to the sense of community in the Department of Political Economy (later Political Science) at the University of Toronto by drawing his colleagues into discussions and away from their 'own separate tracks of activity' and by opening his home to serve as a forum for debate and reflection among colleagues, activists, and informed people from different backgrounds.As illuminating and touching as these personal reflections were, the tribute would not have been complete if a way had not been found to give voice to Cran Pratt's creative life. My colleague, Richard Sandbrook, and I wanted to find a suitable manner to reflect on the splendid contribution Cran has made to the many students he has taught, to colleagues and fellow activists who have benefited from his wise counsel, and to the broader, informed community of scholars who continue to this day to profit from his insightful and passionate writings. …

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