Emeritus Professor Stuart Rees AM is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

, human rights activist and author who is the founder of the

Sydney Peace Foundation The Sydney Peace Prize is awarded by the Sydney Peace Foundation, a non profit organisation associated with the University of Sydney. The prize promotes peace with justice and the practice of nonviolence. It aims to encourage public interest and d ...

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and

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the Centre for

Peace and Conflict Studies Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyzes violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms attending conflicts (including social conflicts), with a view towards understanding those pro ...

at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Education

He holds a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

with

Honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

, a

Diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offici ...

of Social Studies, a Certificate of Social Casework and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

Academic career

From 1978 to 2000 Rees was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Social Work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

and

Social Policy Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

at the University of Sydney. For years Rees taught a post-graduate unit titled "Passion, Peace and Poetry" at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, in which he integrated poetry with a study of the great non-violence leaders such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King. A similar use of poetry to illustrate the theme of peace with justice runs through many of his publications. Prior to this he taught at

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

and

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, at

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in the United States. Rees' awards include a Simon Fellowship at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, a Humanities Fellowship at the

City University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is a world-class public research university located in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. Currently, CityU is ...

, and honorary doctorate and the Award of Highest Honour for 'Significant Contributions to World Peace' conferred in 1998 by Soka University, Japan. For four years he was an elected Fellow of the Senate of the University of Sydney. In 2005 he was awarded the Order of Australia for services to international relations.

Other activities

For six years he was a member of the Aboriginal Reconciliation Council of New South Wales and is currently a council member of the Toda Research Institute into Global Governance and Human Security. Between 2004-2010, Professor Rees chaired the NSW Energy Council. Rees' publications include numerous books and over one hundred journal articles on social justice, health care and welfare services, critiques of free market economics, the human costs of management practices and the attributes of peace negotiations and humanitarianism in social policy. Rees has also published three anthologies of poetry: The Jury’s Return (1992), Tell Me the Truth About War (2004) and A Will to Live (2014). Rees has been a human rights activist in several countries and his non-academic activities have included community development, probation services and social work in the UK and

; work with ''War on Poverty'' programs in the U.S.A.; and work with the

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

non-governmental organisation in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

; co-architect of the West Papua Social Justice project; and co architect of the Sri Lankan project for the human rights of the Tamil minority. Rees is a regular broadcaster on Australia's

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Radio about the "means and meaning of peace with justice" is also a regular New Matilda contributo

In 2012, Rees spoke about Pablo Picasso as a lifelong advocate of peace at the Art Gallery NSW (Art After Hours

Rees is a regular convenor at 'Politics in the Pub

His most recent discussion - 'War, Peace & Propaganda: John Pilger in conversation with Professor Stuart Rees'. Rees is an active supporter of the worldwide

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations ...

(BDS) movement which promotes Palestinian peoples' rights to self-determination. Rees has defended his efforts to convince the University of Sydney to sever ties with Israeli institutions. At a rally held in August 2013, Rees was personally supported by Australian MP

David Shoebridge David Martin Shoebridge (born 17 September 1971) is an Australian politician and former barrister. He is a member of the Australian Greens and was elected to the Senate as the party's lead candidate in New South Wales at the 2022 federal elec ...

. In 2013, Rees sharply criticized

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

for signing the London Declaration on Combating Anti-Semitism. Rees described Gillard's signing of the declaration as "childish, thoughtless but easily populist."

Honours

In 2005 he was awarded a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

''for service to international relations, particularly as Director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney and through the establishment of the Sydney Peace Prize''.

Bibliography

* Social Work Face to Face (1979) * Verdicts on Social Work (1982) * A Brutal Game: Patients and the Doctors' Dispute (1986) * Achieving Power: Practice and Policy in Social Welfare (1991) * The Jury's Return (1992) * Beyond the Market: Alternatives to Economic Rationalism (1993) * The Human Costs of Managerealism: Advocating the Recovery of Humanity (1995) * Human Rights, Corporate Responsibility: A Dialogue (2000) * Passion for Peace: Exercising Power Creatively (2003) * Tell Me The Truth About War (2004) * Inspirations for Peace: Pablo Picasso, Noam Chomsky and their Friends (2012) * Gandhi Legacy: The International Priorities (2013) * A Will To Live (2014) * A Conversation on the Philosophy of Peace and the Poetic Spirit(A dialogue between Dr. Daisaku Ikeda and Dr. Stuart Rees)(2014) * A Lover’s Country (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Stuart Year of birth missing (living people) Academic staff of the University of Sydney Australian non-fiction writers Australian anti-war activists Members of the Order of Australia Living people