Thomas Teo
Biographic Data
| ID | 3786069 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Thomas Teo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Thomas |
| FAMILY NAME | Teo |
| SIGNATURE | TEO T |
| AFFILIATIONS | York University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1646-5035 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 41 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 153 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 39 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology
History as Method: Melancholic Reflections
Decolonial research practices from an indigenous psychology perspective: Critical contributions to knowledge
The indigenous psychology (IP) movement has challenged mainstream psychology, which is considered rooted in colonial legacies, and has advocated for locally informed and developed theories and practices. The article explores the nexus of IP and decolonial psychology, emphasizes the need to challenge Western-centric hegemony, and promotes a contextually rich, relational paradigm based on reflexivity. IP critiques the Euro-American methodologism an…
Subjectivity and method: Why psychology needs more armchair scholarship
The argument is based on the premise that method follows subject matter. A representational view of methodology is discussed, arguing that a natural–scientific approach based on variabilization and subdivision of mental life is epistemically insufficient. Subjectivity as the subject matter of psychology must be studied with methods that are capable of addressing wholistic entities and integrating a mostly sociohistorical object, which can be addr…
In the aftermath of globalization: Antiglobalizing and deglobalizing forms of subjectivity
After explaining the meaning of mentality, sources of globalization are discussed. Globalization, and antiglobalizing and deglobalizing mentalities, are understood as grounded in the historical, material, and concrete discursive and practical experiences of individuals. Globalization is divided into political-economic, cosmopolitan, and internationalist streams corresponding to historical trends developed into the 20th and 21st centuries, illustr…
Introduction: Theorizing the psychology of deglobalization
The unprecedented pace and scope of globalization over the past half century have had major impacts on the field of psychology. We observe that since the 2008 financial crisis, there have been increased academic and political concerns with “deglobalization,” which is often associated with terrorism, xenophobia, authoritarianism, Brexit, the US–China trade war, the Russian war on Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that the phenomenon of …
Motivated historiography: Comments on Wolfgang Schönpflug’s reappraisal of German critical psychology
Introducing the concept of motivated historiography, we seek to answer the question of what constitutes a good history of psychology and of German Critical Psychology (CP) in particular. It is suggested that one needs to include questions about the purpose of historiography, the background and horizon of the historiographer, the quality and originality of the thesis, the quality of the material, selected and omitted, and the quality of interpreta…
Theorizing in psychology: From the critique of a hyper-science to conceptualizing subjectivity
It is emphasized that theoretical psychology is based on the practice of theorizing. After presenting and challenging some ideas about theories, three tasks for theoretical psychologists are discussed: theorizing as critique refers to describing psychology as a hyper-science that inflates its methodological and technical activities in order to conceal its lack of a natural–scientific foundation. Theorizing as reconstruction is an activity that se…
Some clarifications on critical and Indigenous psychologies
This comment responds to Held’s (2020) analyses of Indigenous and critical psychologies, not by providing line-for-line refutations of arguments, but by laying out some of the larger issues in those areas of research and practice. The argument clarifies assumptions and misunderstandings by looking at the relationship between critical and Indigenous psychologies, power and violence, objectivity, and the regulative role of prepositions. It is hoped…
Subhumanism: The re‐emergence of an affective‐symbolic ontology in the migration debate and beyond
A critical analysis of social behavior proposes that the contempt for immigrants, refugees, or asylum seekers around the world is explicitly or implicitly powered by an ontology of the subhuman, a term that was used in early 20 th century American race and eugenic theory, as well as in fascist Germany, to describe and justify the mistreatment of minorities or perceived enemies. “Migrants” are not afforded the same rights and respect as other peop…
Homo neoliberalus: From personality to forms of subjectivity
Based on a Neo-Sprangerian approach to forms of life in Western cultures, and drawing on humanities-based ideas about personality, a critical-hermeneutic description of a neoliberal form of life and its corresponding form of subjectivity is presented. In the neoliberal form of subjectivity, the self becomes central, but in a way that the distinction between an ego and the self is no longer relevant. Neoliberal thinking is reduced to utilitarian, …
From Psychological Science to the Psychological Humanities: Building a General Theory of Subjectivity
The development of psychology as a science and the struggle for scientific recognition has disrupted the need to interrogate the discipline and the profession from the perspective of the humanities, the arts, and the concept-driven social sciences. This article suggests that some of the humanities contribute significantly to an understanding of human subjectivity, arguably a core topic within psychology. The article outlines the relevance of the …
Critical psychology: A geography of intellectual engagement and resistance
Critical psychology has become a generative and international movement in the last 5 decades, with self-identifying critical psychologists emerging from around the globe with publications and contributions, both theoretical and practical, in many areas of psychology. This article provides an overview of current trends in critical psychology and elucidates historical sources and theoretical tenets. Presented are the relationship between individual…
"A Psicologia Na "Jangada Da Medusa: Entrevista Com Thomas Teo
Criado na Austria, Thomas Teo atualmente e professor do Programa de Historia e Teoria da Psicologia na York University, em Toronto (Canada). Seu trabalho foca a psicologia critica em diversos contextos, tendo como um de seus objetivos levar a psicologia dos centros do capitalismo a aprender com as da periferia do sistema. Por meio dessa entrevista, procuramos introduzir ao leitor de lingua portuguesa as ideias de Teo, contextualizando influencias…
Epistemological Violence
Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology
Agnotology in the dialectics of the history and philosophy of psychology
It is suggested that Robinson’s (2013) arguments are based on a less than clear articulation of the relationship between the history and philosophy of psychology. After tackling the relationship between these two subdisciplines and conceptualizing them in a dialectic relationship from a programmatic point of view, consequences for writing and reading works in the history and philosophy of psychology are examined. Lessons learned from the reflecti…
Backlash against American psychology: An indigenous reconstruction of the history of German critical psychology
After suggesting that all psychologies contain indigenous qualities and discussing differences and commonalities between German and North American historiographies of psychology, an indigenous reconstruction of German critical psychology is applied. It is argued that German critical psychology can be understood as a backlash against American psychology, as a response to the Americanization of German psychology after WWII, on the background of the…
Empirical Race Psychology and the Hermeneutics of Epistemological Violence
What is Epistemological Violence in the Empirical Social Sciences?
This article discusses the meaning of epistemological violence in the empirical social sciences. It is argued that the concept is closer to personal than to structural violence in that it has a subject, an object, and an action, even if the violence is indirect and nonphysical: the subject of violence is the researcher, the object is the Other , and the action is the interpretation of data that is presented as knowledge. Using a hypothetical exam…
Developmental Psychology and the Relevance of a Critical Metatheoretical Reflection
It is argued that developmental psychology can profit by incorporating ideas not only from other sciences but also from recent developments in the philosophies of knowledge. A resulting learning process with possible consequences for research practices is mediated by the self-reflective cognitive processes of developmental psychologists. To demonstrate the conceptual and intellectual possibilities of metatheory, the following three critical famil…
Twin research, revisionism and metahistory
We understand metahistory as an approach that studies how histories within a particular discipline have been written and focus on insider scientists' reconstructions of twin research. Using the concept of ethical-political affordances we suggest that such histories are based on a management of resources that prove to be beneficial for representing one's own research traditions in a positive light. Instead of discussing information on the context …
Psychology without Caucasians
From Speculation to Epistemological Violence in Psychology: A Critical-Hermeneutic Reconstruction
Based on historical and theoretical reflections it is argued that speculation cannot be eradicated from psychology and that it is a necessary part of empirical research, specifically when it concerns the interpretation of data. The quality of those interpretative speculations of data is particularly relevant when they concern human groups and differences between them. The term epistemological violence (EV) is introduced in order to identify inter…
Local institutionalization, discontinuity, and German textbooks of psychology, 1816-1854
In the context of social and intellectual developments and the changing role of German universities in the first half of the nineteenth century, which led to the local institutionalization of the discipline of psychology at German universities, the structure and content of textbooks of psychology are discussed. Textbooks in the first half of the nineteenth century had a pedagogical function in training teachers, in socializing students into the f…
Critical psychology: A geography of intellectual engagement and resistance
Critical psychology has become a generative and international movement in the last 5 decades, with self-identifying critical psychologists emerging from around the globe with publications and contributions, both theoretical and practical, in many areas of psychology. This article provides an overview of current trends in critical psychology and elucidates historical sources and theoretical tenets. Presented are the relationship between individual…
Race, science and medicine, 1700-1960
Homo neoliberalus: From personality to forms of subjectivity
Based on a Neo-Sprangerian approach to forms of life in Western cultures, and drawing on humanities-based ideas about personality, a critical-hermeneutic description of a neoliberal form of life and its corresponding form of subjectivity is presented. In the neoliberal form of subjectivity, the self becomes central, but in a way that the distinction between an ego and the self is no longer relevant. Neoliberal thinking is reduced to utilitarian, …
From Psychological Science to the Psychological Humanities: Building a General Theory of Subjectivity
The development of psychology as a science and the struggle for scientific recognition has disrupted the need to interrogate the discipline and the profession from the perspective of the humanities, the arts, and the concept-driven social sciences. This article suggests that some of the humanities contribute significantly to an understanding of human subjectivity, arguably a core topic within psychology. The article outlines the relevance of the …
Subhumanism: The re‐emergence of an affective‐symbolic ontology in the migration debate and beyond
A critical analysis of social behavior proposes that the contempt for immigrants, refugees, or asylum seekers around the world is explicitly or implicitly powered by an ontology of the subhuman, a term that was used in early 20 th century American race and eugenic theory, as well as in fascist Germany, to describe and justify the mistreatment of minorities or perceived enemies. “Migrants” are not afforded the same rights and respect as other peop…
Empirical Race Psychology and the Hermeneutics of Epistemological Violence
Backlash against American psychology: An indigenous reconstruction of the history of German critical psychology
After suggesting that all psychologies contain indigenous qualities and discussing differences and commonalities between German and North American historiographies of psychology, an indigenous reconstruction of German critical psychology is applied. It is argued that German critical psychology can be understood as a backlash against American psychology, as a response to the Americanization of German psychology after WWII, on the background of the…
Klaus Holzkamp and the rise and decline of German critical psychology
The history of German Critical Psychology focuses on the works of its most significant representative, Klaus Holzkamp (1927-1995), and reconstructs the development of his ideas, critiques, and results. For historical-systematic reasons his work is divided into a precritical period (until 1968), a critical-emancipatory period (1968-1972), a critical-conceptual period (1973-1983), and a subject-scientific period (1984-1995). Social movements and in…
Psychology without Caucasians
Friedrich Albert Lange on neo-Kantianism, socialist Darwinism, and a psychology without a soul
Friedrich Albert Lange was a German philosopher, political theorist, educator, and psychologist who outlined an objective psychology in the 1860s. This article shows how some of the most important worldviews of the nineteenth century (Kantianism, Marxism, and Darwinism) were combined creatively in his thought system. He was crucial in the development of neo-Kantianism and incorporated psycho-physiological research on sensation and perception in o…
Local institutionalization, discontinuity, and German textbooks of psychology, 1816-1854
In the context of social and intellectual developments and the changing role of German universities in the first half of the nineteenth century, which led to the local institutionalization of the discipline of psychology at German universities, the structure and content of textbooks of psychology are discussed. Textbooks in the first half of the nineteenth century had a pedagogical function in training teachers, in socializing students into the f…
Twin research, revisionism and metahistory
We understand metahistory as an approach that studies how histories within a particular discipline have been written and focus on insider scientists' reconstructions of twin research. Using the concept of ethical-political affordances we suggest that such histories are based on a management of resources that prove to be beneficial for representing one's own research traditions in a positive light. Instead of discussing information on the context …
Norm, factuality, and power in multiculturalism
Norm, factuality, and power in multiculturalism
Fowers and Richardson (June 1996) offered a comprehensive analysis of the logic underlying multicultural thought. Most laudable is their aim of confronting the reader with arguments for multiculturalism, while simultaneously uncovering some of its paradoxes, such as its embeddedness in the criticized Western tradition. Because of the good intentions of the authors, it is especially important to address some of the problems and inconsistencies in …
Should Psychology Care about Subjectivity
Prolegomenon to a Contemporary Psychology of Liberation
This prolegomenon outlines a framework for a contemporary, critical psychological theory of liberation. It is argued that recent developments in metatheory have led to problems in both form and content for theory construction in the domain of liberation. As a viable solution to the formal problem, a non-foundational `conceptual network' is suggested. As `knots' in this quasi-systematic network, and thus as a preliminary solution to the problem of…
Klaus Holzkamp and the rise and decline of German critical psychology
The history of German Critical Psychology focuses on the works of its most significant representative, Klaus Holzkamp (1927-1995), and reconstructs the development of his ideas, critiques, and results. For historical-systematic reasons his work is divided into a precritical period (until 1968), a critical-emancipatory period (1968-1972), a critical-conceptual period (1973-1983), and a subject-scientific period (1984-1995). Social movements and in…
Klaus Holzkamp and the rise and decline of German critical psychology
This history of German Critical Psychology focuses on the works of its most significant representative, Klaus Holzkamp (1927Holzkamp ( -1995)), and reconstructs the development of his ideas, critiques, and results.For historical-systematic reasons his work is divided into a precritical period (until 1968), a critical-emancipatory period (1968-1972), a crfical-conceptual period (1973-1983), and a subject-scientific period (1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(…
Marxist Psychologists: Bald Intellectuals, Officials of Truth or Revolutionaries
Based on the ideological relationship between Marxism and psychology in the early 1950s, the contributions in the book Psychology and Society: Radical Theory and Practice are analyzed in terms of three questions: Are Marxist psychologists sensitive intellectuals? What is the relationship between Marxist psychology and truth? Do contemporary Marxist reflections provide insights into critical, emancipatory or liberating practices, accounting for th…
The Never-Ending Story of Emancipation
Attribution errors in the postmodern landscape
Attribution errors in the postmodern landscape
Race, science and medicine, 1700-1960
Friedrich Albert Lange on neo-Kantianism, socialist Darwinism, and a psychology without a soul
Friedrich Albert Lange was a German philosopher, political theorist, educator, and psychologist who outlined an objective psychology in the 1860s. This article shows how some of the most important worldviews of the nineteenth century (Kantianism, Marxism, and Darwinism) were combined creatively in his thought system. He was crucial in the development of neo-Kantianism and incorporated psycho-physiological research on sensation and perception in o…
On the Logic of Racism and its Relationship to Social Distress
Ethnocentrism as a Form of Intuition in Psychology
Ethnocentrism is conceptualized as a basic Kantian form of intuition that plays aknowledge-producing role. Although all cultures have developed their particular forms of intuition, the focus of this analysis is on Western ethnocentrism, which is discussed in four psychological manifestations. The most explicit expression of Western ethnocentrism in academia is scientific racism, which has been an important research program in the history of the s…
Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) and Eduard Spranger (1882-1963) on the developing person
At the end of the 19th century most psychologists conceptualized psychology as a natural science. However, a few philosopher‐psychologists, including Wilhelm Dilthey, envisioned psychology as a Geisteswissenschaft with understanding as its core method. It is less known that Dilthey also promoted ideas for developmental psychology. This paper addresses the views of Wilhelm Dilthey and his student Eduard Spranger on the human mind and developmental…
From racism to genocide: Anthropology in the Third Reich
Local institutionalization, discontinuity, and German textbooks of psychology, 1816-1854
In the context of social and intellectual developments and the changing role of German universities in the first half of the nineteenth century, which led to the local institutionalization of the discipline of psychology at German universities, the structure and content of textbooks of psychology are discussed. Textbooks in the first half of the nineteenth century had a pedagogical function in training teachers, in socializing students into the f…
From Speculation to Epistemological Violence in Psychology: A Critical-Hermeneutic Reconstruction
Based on historical and theoretical reflections it is argued that speculation cannot be eradicated from psychology and that it is a necessary part of empirical research, specifically when it concerns the interpretation of data. The quality of those interpretative speculations of data is particularly relevant when they concern human groups and differences between them. The term epistemological violence (EV) is introduced in order to identify inter…
Twin research, revisionism and metahistory
We understand metahistory as an approach that studies how histories within a particular discipline have been written and focus on insider scientists' reconstructions of twin research. Using the concept of ethical-political affordances we suggest that such histories are based on a management of resources that prove to be beneficial for representing one's own research traditions in a positive light. Instead of discussing information on the context …
Psychology without Caucasians
What is Epistemological Violence in the Empirical Social Sciences?
This article discusses the meaning of epistemological violence in the empirical social sciences. It is argued that the concept is closer to personal than to structural violence in that it has a subject, an object, and an action, even if the violence is indirect and nonphysical: the subject of violence is the researcher, the object is the Other , and the action is the interpretation of data that is presented as knowledge. Using a hypothetical exam…
Developmental Psychology and the Relevance of a Critical Metatheoretical Reflection
It is argued that developmental psychology can profit by incorporating ideas not only from other sciences but also from recent developments in the philosophies of knowledge. A resulting learning process with possible consequences for research practices is mediated by the self-reflective cognitive processes of developmental psychologists. To demonstrate the conceptual and intellectual possibilities of metatheory, the following three critical famil…
Empirical Race Psychology and the Hermeneutics of Epistemological Violence
Agnotology in the dialectics of the history and philosophy of psychology
It is suggested that Robinson’s (2013) arguments are based on a less than clear articulation of the relationship between the history and philosophy of psychology. After tackling the relationship between these two subdisciplines and conceptualizing them in a dialectic relationship from a programmatic point of view, consequences for writing and reading works in the history and philosophy of psychology are examined. Lessons learned from the reflecti…
Backlash against American psychology: An indigenous reconstruction of the history of German critical psychology
After suggesting that all psychologies contain indigenous qualities and discussing differences and commonalities between German and North American historiographies of psychology, an indigenous reconstruction of German critical psychology is applied. It is argued that German critical psychology can be understood as a backlash against American psychology, as a response to the Americanization of German psychology after WWII, on the background of the…
Sociology (31 works) · Epistemology (28 works) · Philosophy (28 works) · Psychology (26 works) · Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology (23 works) · Social Representations and Identity (16 works) · Political science (14 works) · Social science (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Psychoanalysis (11 works)