Prof. Desmond Painter

Brief Academic Biography

Desmond Painter is an Associate Professor in Psychology at Stellenbosch University. He teaches mainly theoretical and philosophical psychology, critical social psychology, and qualitative methods. His research areas include language and social psychology, the history and foundations of critical psychology, the emergence and globalisation of ‘psychological cultures’ (with a particular focus on the history of psychology in South Africa), and psycho-geographies of urban experience. Along with the publication of journal articles and book chapters, he is also co-editor of a number of academic books, including Interiors: A History of Psychology in South Africa (with Clifford van Ommen), a special edition of Theory & Psychology on Critical Psychology, and three recent editions of the Annual Review of Critical Psychology. He has published poetry, fiction and literary essays and regularly writes opinion pieces for newspapers and participates in other forms of public intellectual and cultural engagement. These include interviews and interventions on television and radio and at literary festivals and book launches. He serves on the editorial boards of a number of journals, including South African Journal of Psychology, Psychology in Society (PINS), Social Dynamics, and the Journal of Social and Community Psychology.

Research

Research Topics

• Race and racism (including psychosocial studies of whiteness)

• Nationalism, ethnicity and language ideologies

• Gender and sexualities

• Histories and consequences of psychologization in the global South

• Politics, society and subjectivity in the history of South Africa, and the city and the self

About my Research

I do qualitative research on contemporary South African subjectivities, including those related to race and racism, gender and sexuality, and ethnolinguistic identities. I also do theoretical and historical research that focus on the critique and transformation of psychology in postcolonial and late capitalist societies. I have co-edited, with Clifford van Ommen, the book Interiors: A History of Psychology in South Africa (2008) and in recent years served as an editor for three editions of the Annual Review of Critical Psychology: Critical psychology in a changing world: Building bridges and expanding the dialogue (2013), Marxism & Psychology (2015), and German ‘Kritische Psychologie’ (2019). I am currently completing a funded project on Critical Histories of Post-apartheid Psychology and was awarded a C1 rating by the National Research Foundation in 2018.

Selected Publications

Books and Journals

Marvakis, A., Motzkau, J., Painter, D., Ruto-Korir, R.C., Sullivan, G., Triliva, S., & Wieser, M. (Eds.). (2013). Doing psychology under new conditions. Concord, ON: Captus Press.

Van Ommen, C., & Painter, D. (Eds.). (2008). Interiors: A history of Psychology in South Africa. Pretoria: Unisa Press.

Terre Blanche, M., Durrheim, K., & Painter, D. (Eds.). (2006). Research in practice (2nd Edition). Cape Town: UCT Press.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Batur, S., Kessi, S., Marlatt, E., Marvakis, A., Painter, D., Schraube, E., & Triliva, S. (2019). Kritische Psychologie: Refining Theory, Methodology and Empirical Research. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 16, 3-9.

Painter, D. (2017). Greetings from South Africa: Some thoughts on Anton Kannemeyer. In A. Kannemeyer, I Think, Therefore I’m Dangerous (pp. 2-6). Vienna: Galerie Ernst Hilger.

Painter, D. (2017). Socially contextualised approaches. In C. Moore, H.G. Viljoen & W.F. Meyer (Eds.), Personology: From individual to ecosystem (pp. 462-466). Cape Town: Pearson.

Viljoen, H., & Painter, D. (2017). African perspectives. In C. Moore, H.G. Viljoen & W.F. Meyer (Eds.), Personology: From individual to ecosystem (pp. 543-570). Cape Town: Pearson.

Viljoen, H., & Painter, D. (2017). Historical overview of psychological thinking. In C. Moore, H.G. Viljoen & W.F. Meyer (Eds.), Personology: From individual to ecosystem (pp. 21-36). Cape Town: Pearson.

Painter, D. (2015). Postcolonial theory: Towards a worlding of critical psychology. In I. Parker (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of critical psychology (pp. 366-375). London: Routledge.

Painter, D., Pavón-Cuéllar, D., & Moncada, L. (2015). Convulsive times, revolutionary subjects: Reflections on Marxism and psychology. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 12, 6-17.

Painter, D. (2014). For a constant critique of psychology: Rethinking psychology in society. PINS, 46, 41-45.

Painter, D., & Dixon, J. (2013). Language attitudes in southern Africa. In H. Giles & B. Watson (Eds.), The social meaning of speech style: An international perspective (pp. 105-124). New York: Peter Lang.

Painter, D., Kiguwa, P., & Böhmke, W. (2013). Contexts and continuities of critique: Reflections on the current state of critical psychology in South Africa. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 10, 849-869.

Dafermos, M., Marvakis, A., Mentinis, M., Painter, D., & Triliva, S. (2013). This world is not enough: The dialectics of critical psychology. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 10, 1-34.

Painter, D. (2012). Speaking in tongues: A report on the Second Marxism & Psychology Conference, Morelia, Mexico, 9-11 August 2012. Psychology in Society, 43, 72-75.

Kruger, F., & Painter, D. (2011). New frontiers in communication: A qualitative study of the use of social networking site Facebook. New Voices in Psychology, 7(2), 48-67.

Painter, D. (2009). A voice and so much more: The neglect and representation of language in social psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3(5), 671-686.

Painter, D., Marvakis, A., & Mos, L. (2009). German Critical Psychology: Interventions in honor of Klaus Holzkamp. Theory & Psychology, 19(2), 139-147.

Teaching

Coordination of Programmes and Modules

Undergraduate:

• Coordinator: Approaches to Psychological Theories of the Person (213)

Postgraduate:

• Lecturer: seminars and workshops on advanced qualitative research methods

• Social Psychology 745

Teaching Areas

Undergraduate & Postgraduate

• Critical social psychology

• Theoretical and philosophical psychology

• Qualitative research methods

Websites and other Relevant Links

https://southernpsychologies.wordpress.com/