The Psychology of Dictatorship

Professor Fathali Moghaddam

 
When?
Tuesday 21 May 2013, 16.00 to 17.00
Where?
01AC02
Open to:
Public, Staff, Students
Speaker:
Professor Fathali Moghaddam
For most of history, humans have lived and developed social and psychological skills in the context of dictatorship rather than democracy. Even in so-called 'advanced democracies', there are persistent elements that could pull societies back to dictatorship; we should not assume that change will be only toward more open societies. From the perspective of psychological science, there are potential dictators in every human group. A 'springboard model' is presented to explain the conditions that enable potential dictators to spring to power. This model highlights differences in change at macro (societal) and micro (social and psychological) levels, and the role of these differences in a repeated pattern: the failure of revolutions, from Russia in 1917 to Iran in 1979 to the Arab Spring today, to end dictatorship.

Professor Fathali Moghaddam
Georgetown University

Fathali M. Moghaddam, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the director of the Conflict Resolution Program, Department of Government at Georgetown University. Dr. Moghaddam was born in Iran, educated from an early age in England, and worked for the United Nations and for McGill University before joining Georgetown University in 1990. He returned to Iran in the spring of revolution in 1979 and was researching there during the hostage-taking crisis and the early years of the Iran–Iraq War. He has conducted experimental and field research in numerous cultural contexts and published extensively on radicalization, intergroup conflict, human rights and duties, and the psychology of globalization. His most recent books include The Psychology of Dictatorship (2013), Multiculturalism and Intergroup Relations (2008); How Globalization Spurs Terrorism (2008); The New Global Insecurity (2010); Words of Conflict, Words of War (2010, with Rom Harré); and Psychology for the Third Millennium (2012, with Rom Harré). Dr. Moghaddam is the next editor of Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, and he has received a number of recognitions for his scholarly contributions, the most recent being the Outstanding International Psychologist Award for 2012 from the American Psychological Association’s Division of International Psychology. More about his research can be found on his website: www.fathalimoghaddam.com.

Date:
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Time:

16.00 to 17.00


Where?
01AC02
Open to:
Public, Staff, Students
Speaker:
Professor Fathali Moghaddam

Page Owner: ck0008
Page Created: Wednesday 20 February 2013 11:41:47 by ck0008
Last Modified: Monday 25 March 2013 09:21:33 by ck0008
Expiry Date: Wednesday 22 May 2013 00:00:00
Assembly date: Fri Apr 05 14:16:46 BST 2013
Content ID: 98407
Revision: 3
Community: 1202