Dr Karim BETTACHE - Bridging the Individual- and Group-Level Research to Understand the World System

Описание: MGPE Seminar titled "Bridging the Individual- and Group-Level Research to Understand the World System" on 2 June 2020. (https://mgpe.ssc.cuhk.edu.hk/en/news/...)

The International Relations theorist, Sir Steve SMITH, wrote “The social world is one in which individuals exist within powerful economic, political, social, gendered, racial, linguistic, and moral structures. We might be able to describe action fairly easily, but it is far more difficult to explain it (why was the action undertaken?). And, when it comes to explaining action, we are, whether we like it or not, in the realm of (IR) theory.” Wittingly or unwittingly, Dr. SMITH also described the realm of social psychology which tries to explain behavior as situated in its social context. Yet, in reality, both fields function largely independent of each other where psychology has been critiqued for being too individualist and decontextual, while IR departments have been accused of maintaining a persistent psychological ‘gap’. In the current talk, Dr BETTACHE argues for the necessity to bridge the fields to understand the world system. In particular, he will focus on hegemonic power and its resulting ideologies (e.g., neoliberalism, colonialism, or colorism) that result in chronic social inequality. As such, he emphasizes the importance of academically studying the mutual constitution of individual behavior and the macro socio-political context.

Speaker: Dr Karim BETTACHE
Dr Karim BETTACHE, currently a lecturer at Monash University, acquired his PhD in social psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and his BSc and MSc in Psychology at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Because of a strong interest in social psychological processes related to intergroup relations and cross-cultural phenomena, after acquiring his MSc in his native country the Netherlands, Dr BETTACHE spent several years of his academic career in Hong Kong where he developed his strong connections with Hong Kong scholars and intrinsic love for the city. In Hong Kong, besides acquiring his PhD degree, he also worked as a lecturer for the Education University of Hong Kong, a managing editor for the Asian Journal of Social Psychology, and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Dr BETTACHE is a holder of the Distinguished Teaching Award (CUHK).

He has further worked closely with leading European and Asian scholars in the social sciences, such as Dr Martijn van ZOMEREN, Dr Takeshi HAMAMURA, Dr Fanny M. C. CHEUNG and Dr Chi-yue CHIU. His current project focuses on the question of how political and economic ideologies such as neoliberalism shape human psychology. Dr. BETTACHE feels sympathetic towards promoting the decolonization of the social sciences and, therefore, he actively participates in efforts to apply insights from postcolonial IR theory to social psychological phenomena.

Moderator: Prof Peter BEATTIE 裴弼革教授 (https://mgpe.ssc.cuhk.edu.hk/en/facul...)
Prof Peter BEATTIE is Assistant Professor and Assistant Programme Director of the MSSc in Global Political Economy at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he teaches political economy and political psychology. His published work has focused on the role of ideas in politics, and his research has been presented at conferences in Asia, Europe, South America, and the United States.

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