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LECTURES & AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Below are my main publications and areas of expertise. You can contact me about lectures on these topics. For a full list of my publications see this link.

STRUGGLING FOR RECOGNITION AND DEMOCRATIC PROGRESS

A lecture series that presents the psychological factors that propel social and political change. The lectures underscores a fundamental psychological facet of human nature, the pursuit of recognition: the disposition to pursue positive self-esteem and status, and the aversion of negative self-esteem, humiliation, and domination more generally. The pursuit of recognition is the personal irrational impetus for action, serving to overcome fear and rational calculations of costs and benefits involved in collective action. I illustrate the ways in which this disposition is triggered and converted into political pressures leading to democratic progress. A strong case in made for the vitality of understanding human psychology as the first step to understanding complicated processes, as well as to promoting democratic reforms at present.

GENES, TWIN STUDIES, AND POLITICAL BEHAVIOR​

Can Twin Studies tell us anything about political behavior? In this lecture I explain a fundamental fatal flaw in the classic twin studies paradigm. Essentially, comparing identical and non-identical twins can neither prove or refute the claims and interpretations that are made in those studies about the supposed genetic basic of complex human behavior such as political behavior. A debate about my argument was published in the top political science journal , Political Analysis.

THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT
​Why did the US Civil Rights Movement begin in Montgomery, and why at the end of 1955? In this lecture, I answer these questions and reveal an untold story about the Montgomery bus boycott, 1955-1956. The lecture is based on new and surprising findings about the reasons of this historical protest. The talk is based on my book and my paper in the leading journal Mobilization which won the the American Sociological Association Best Paper Award . The findings cast a new light on theories of mass mobilization in general and that of the US Civil Rights movement in particular.

HUMAN DIGNITY, SELF-WORTH AND HUMILIATION: A COMPARATIVE-PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH

​This lecture series illuminates the concept of human dignity by exploring its meanings and uses in different countries and through different perspectives. Special focus is given to explain the meaning of this concept and its recurrent uses in Supreme Courts around the world through a psychological perspective that equates human dignity with the universal psychological drive and need for positive self-worth. Research on this topic was published in the journal Psychology, Public Policy and Law.

ISRAELI POLITICS, THE SUPREME COURT AND HUMAN RIGHTS​

​A lecture series that presents political structures and political behavior in Israel. Among the topics that I present are the development of the party map in Israel and voter choice based on data that includes all the election outcomes in Israel since its establishment; the impact of the Arab-Israel conflict on election results since the 1990s; the role of the Supreme Court in shaping the political rules, and more.​

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