Episode 5 - We find ourselves abstracted: Exploring neoliberal & decolonial psychologies with Dr. Glenn Adams
This episode features Dr. Glenn Adams, professor of psychology at the University of Kansas and director of the Kansas African Studies Center. We review four features of neoliberal subjectivity from the paper “The Psychology of Neoliberalism and the Neoliberalism of Psychology.” These include: (1) a sense of freedom from constraint that affords an experience of radical abstraction from context; (2) the creation of an entrepreneurial self as project of ongoing development; (3) an imperative for individual growth and personal fulfillment as the key to well-being; and (4) an emphasis on affect regulation as a key to personal success. While not inherently “bad”, these features affect things like collective investment and communities of care. We also discuss colonialism as the dark side or the shadow of modernity, and Glenn’s work in the space of decolonial psychology.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
06:18 A profound educational experience and questioning what is natural
10:37 The meaning of WEIRD
12:23 Recognizing difference and post-colonialism
14:50 Self as object, subjectivity as experience, self-ways as culturally shared models
18:54 Neoliberalism as a cultural, psychological phenomenon
23:39 Neoliberalism as liberalism on steroids
26:14 Feature 1 - Radical abstraction
28:42 Connection to self-authorship
29:30 The impact of neoliberalism on community care
34:53 Feature 2 - The Entrepreneurial Self
36:53 Feature 3 - Affect management
40:06 What is love?
43:26 Feature 4 - Growth imperative
44:36 The perfect match is out there somewhere...
51:08 Decolonizing psychology
55:48 Coloniality as the dark side of modernity
59:10 Closing questions
01:03:01 Challenging the assumptions that underpin modern individualism
01:08:02 Connecting through interdisciplinary engagement
01:12:27 Outro
Learn more about the Readsura Decolonial Editorial Colletive here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMgP6RNVyxynLfnf1NsNzAQ
Dr. Kopano Ratele’s book is “The World Looks Like This From Here”: https://nyupress.org/9781776143900/the-world-looks-like-this-from-here/
Keywords: growth imperative, radical abstraction, social costs, environmental impact, collective well-being
Theme music is “Building Without Materials” by Aaron Vaurio Jackson: https://aaronvauriojackson.com/home
This conversation was recorded on May 20, 2026
*These show notes were generated with help from an AI