Dear Colleagues,
We are absolutely thrilled that Professor Jim Sidanius (Harvard
University) has agreed to give a public lecture at the University of Johannesburg. As you may know, he is a
HUGE figure in social psychology. I have attached a brief bio for those who are
unfamiliar with his work. Please distribute to your networks.
Title: Macro-Micro Interfacing
and the Production of Group-Based Social Hierarchy: The Case of Individual
Differences in Social Dominance and Institutional Terror
Date: 20 October 2015
Time: 12h15
Venue: Madibeng Council Chambers
RSVP: Madalein Bezuidenhout madaleinb@uj.ac.za by 12 October 2015
Abstract
As an example of attempts to
explore the interaction between macro- and micro-levels analysis, social
dominance theory argues that the creation, maintenance and re-creation of group
based social hierarchy is, among other factors, a result of interacting forces
acting at multiple levels of analysis. These levels of analysis include the
production and dissemination of system-wide social ideologies and social
practices, the hierarchy-enhancing and hierarchy attenuating character of
social institutions, the dynamics of social identities and the differential
behavioral predispositions of individuals embedded within social institutions.
In this talk, I will focus on the intersection between institutions of social
repression and institutional terrorism, and individual differences in
preference for group-based social inequality. Finally, I will examine some of
the precise mechanisms responsible for the matching of individuals with
hierarchy enhancing or hierarchy attenuating tastes with the hierarchy
attenuating/enhancing character of social institutions within which individuals
are embedded.
