Metta Spencer
Encyclopedia
Metta Spencer is a Canadian sociologist, writer, peace researcher, and activist. She serves on the steering committee of the International Peace Bureau
, an organization that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910.
After completing a Ph.D. in Sociology in 1969 at the University of California, Berkeley, Spencer joined the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto
’s Erindale College in 1971. She taught regularly in the university’s Peace and Conflict Studies Program, which she founded in 1989 and coordinated until her retirement in 1997. In 1976 Spencer authored the Foundations of Modern Sociology textbook, which was subsequently published in four American and seven Canadian editions.
Spencer has specialized in peace and war studies, and has been active in the Canadian peace movement. As the founding president and director of the Canadian Disarmament Information Service (CANDIS), she published the monthly Peace Calendar from 1983 to 1985, when the publication changed to magazine format and took the name Peace Magazine
. In 2009, Spencer organized the Zero Nuclear Weapons public forum in Toronto, jointly sponsored by four major Canadian peace organizations with which she has been involved since the mid-80s: Physicians for Global Survival
, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate organization Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
, and Science for Peace
.
She has also extensively researched peace and conflict in the former Soviet Union
and Eastern Europe. In 1997, she organized “The Lessons of Yugoslavia,” a three-day Science for Peace conference at the University of Toronto. In 2011, she published The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy, the culmination of 28 years of research and hundreds of interviews with Russian politicians and activists. She argues that Western peace activists' influence on Russians including Gorbachev
helped end the Cold War
more so than pressure from the US or NATO.
More recently, Spencer has become involved in climate change
activism (by chairing since 2007 a Science for Peace committee to study and campaign for carbon taxation
policy) and has researched edutainment
, or social change through storytelling. In her book Two Aspirins and a Comedy: How Television Can Enhance Health and Society (2006), she argues that television could be a force for health and social change.
International Peace Bureau
International Peace Bureau is the world's oldest international peace federation. It was founded in 1891, and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910....
, an organization that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1910.
After completing a Ph.D. in Sociology in 1969 at the University of California, Berkeley, Spencer joined the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
’s Erindale College in 1971. She taught regularly in the university’s Peace and Conflict Studies Program, which she founded in 1989 and coordinated until her retirement in 1997. In 1976 Spencer authored the Foundations of Modern Sociology textbook, which was subsequently published in four American and seven Canadian editions.
Spencer has specialized in peace and war studies, and has been active in the Canadian peace movement. As the founding president and director of the Canadian Disarmament Information Service (CANDIS), she published the monthly Peace Calendar from 1983 to 1985, when the publication changed to magazine format and took the name Peace Magazine
Peace Magazine
Peace Magazine is a Canadian magazine on disarmament and peacebuilding issues, published by Canadian Disarmanent Information Service ....
. In 2009, Spencer organized the Zero Nuclear Weapons public forum in Toronto, jointly sponsored by four major Canadian peace organizations with which she has been involved since the mid-80s: Physicians for Global Survival
Physicians for Global Survival
Physicians for Global Survival is the Canadian chapter of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War . It is a physician peace activist group that has existed since the early 1980s.Its main principles are:...
, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate organization Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work toward reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats...
, and Science for Peace
Science for Peace
Science for Peace is an organization of mainly Canadian scientists working together to promote peace worldwide. It was co-founded by mathematical psychologist Anatol Rapoport, and physicist Eric Fawcett, both former professors at the University of Toronto. It is based in Toronto, Ontario.-External...
.
She has also extensively researched peace and conflict in the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Eastern Europe. In 1997, she organized “The Lessons of Yugoslavia,” a three-day Science for Peace conference at the University of Toronto. In 2011, she published The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy, the culmination of 28 years of research and hundreds of interviews with Russian politicians and activists. She argues that Western peace activists' influence on Russians including Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
helped end the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
more so than pressure from the US or NATO.
More recently, Spencer has become involved in climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
activism (by chairing since 2007 a Science for Peace committee to study and campaign for carbon taxation
Carbon tax
A carbon tax is an environmental tax levied on the carbon content of fuels. It is a form of carbon pricing. Carbon is present in every hydrocarbon fuel and is released as carbon dioxide when they are burnt. In contrast, non-combustion energy sources—wind, sunlight, hydropower, and nuclear—do not...
policy) and has researched edutainment
Edutainment
Edutainment is a form of entertainment designed to educate as well as to amuse.-Overview:...
, or social change through storytelling. In her book Two Aspirins and a Comedy: How Television Can Enhance Health and Society (2006), she argues that television could be a force for health and social change.
Awards
- Confederation Medal awarded by Governor-General for Service to Canada, 1992
- Global Citizen Award, United Nations, 1995
- United Nations Association in Canada Award, 1999
Books
- Adolescent Prejudice (Co-author with Charles Y. Glock, Robert Wuthnow, and Jane Piliavin). New York: Harper and Row, 1975.
- Foundations of Modern Sociology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1976. (published in four American and seven Canadian editions)
- Two Aspirins and a Comedy: How Television Can Enhance Health and Society. Boulder, Colorado: Paradigm Publishers, 2006.
- The Russian Quest for Peace and Democracy. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Press, 2010.
Books edited
- Research in Social Movements, Conflict, and Change, Vol. 13. Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1991.
- World Security: The New Challenge (Co-editor with Carl G. Jacobsen, Morris Miller, and Eric Tollefson). Pugwash Canada. Toronto: Dundurn, 1994.
- Women in Post-Communism: Research on Russia and Eastern Europe, Vol. 2 (Co-editor with Barbara Wejnert, with the assistance of Slobodan Drakulic). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1997.
- Separatism: Democracy and Disintegration. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998.
- The Lessons of Yugoslavia: Research on Russia and Eastern Europe, Vol. 3. Amsterdam, London: JAI Press, Elsevier, 2000.