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Staff Profile

Professor Hartmut Behr

Professor of International Politics

  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 5705
  • Personal Website: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/gps/staff/profile/hartmutbehr.html
  • Address: Newcastle University
    International Politics, School of Geography, Politics, Sociology
    Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU
    Henry Daysh Building (formerly Claremont Bridge), R 4.24
Background

Feedback and Consultation Hours


Tuesday 2-4pm (HDB 4.24)

Friday 4-5pm (HDB 4.24)


Qualifications

- Habilitation and ,venia legendi’ in Political Science, University

 of Jena, Spring 2003

- PhD (Political Science; minor subjects: North American History and

 Philosophy), University of Cologne, Fall 1996

- M.A. in Political Science; and History; and Sociology, University

 of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Spring 1992

- BA in Political Science, History and Sociology, University of

 Erlangen-Nuremberg, Spring 1988, and Free University of Berlin,

 Spring 1988


Previous Positions

Visiting Scholar, University of Ottawa; Visiting Scholar, Department of Political Science, Virginia Tech; University of Erlangen-Nuremberg/Germany, Department of Political Science; University of Jena/Germany, Department of Political Science; University of Cologne/Germany, Department of Political Science and European Questions; Washington DC/USA, Library of Congress; University of Pittsburgh/USA, Department of Political Science and University Center for International Studies UCIS; University of Tsukuba/Japan, Graduate School for Humanities and Social Sciences, International Relations; International Christian University ICU, Tokyo, Rotary Peace Center and Department of Politics; Science


RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS 


The Discipline of International Relations (IR):

  • Theories of IR & International Political Theory
  • Sociology of Knowledge of IR

Politics of Difference and Identity Formation

Political Violence and Peace Studies 

Political Reversibility


Research

CURRENT RESEARCHL SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH REVERSIBILITY


Reversibility – Politics under Conditions of Uncertainty, forthcoming with McGill-Queens University Press, 2024


https://www.mqup.ca/reversibility-----politics-under-conditions-of-uncertainty-products-9780228020844.php?page_id=73&


From the catalogue:


Western modernity is characterized by instrumental relations between humans and nature, as well as between humans themselves, that have caused irreversible environmental and social exploitation and degradation. Many policy documents, such as those by the United Nations Environment Programme, warn of the uncertainty and unpredictability of our precarious conditions due to our social and ecological interrelations and interdependencies.


Accepting that our position in the world does not allow us secure knowledge of the consequences of politics, Reversibility - Politics under Conditions of Uncertainty asks how we can act politically in a responsible way when we cannot predict the outcomes of our decisions. Hartmut Behr diagnoses Western modernity and its manifold crises as dominated by the view that fellow humans and natural environments are merely means to our individual ends. Behr introduces a novel ethics of self-restraint and the principle of reversibility - a commitment to political actions whose effects shall not be indefinite or immutable - to build a policy framework that demands both ethical and practical reflection on the conditions of action and that accounts for the limitations under which we act and live.


Identifying an urgent need for re-thinking political progress and for policy reform, Reversibility - Politics under Conditions of Uncertainty presents a new understanding of the self and of political responsibility centred in a genuine acknowledgment of the human condition


 

Reviews:


"As we live in a world of increasing precariousness a study on the kind of politics to respond to it certainly is called for. In fact, it is simply necessary, if we, humans of the Anthropocene, have any intention to survive. In view of Hartmut Behr`s book we are not disappointed. We receive guidance, through a masterpiece of practical wisdom. This book is a wise one in profoundly addressing and dealing with the fundamental experience everyone in this world has: It is a world of uncertainties. And it is a book for political practice, in developing, in a most sophisticated way, the concept of “reversibility” – responsible political actions should be taken in such a way that its consequences are reversible. This is a great principle. Behr is well aware of it and this is why he has nourished his study with an impressive amount of theoretical reflections for which he has drawn on a wide array of literature and, in particular, a well-chosen set of philosophical and literary authorities. It is in our common interest that this book should receive a far-reaching attention."


Tilo Schabert, Prof emeritus University of Erlangen-Nuremberg


 

"Policymakers and scholars alike are having to come to grips with the condition of uncertainty and unpredictability. When climate change and other complex challenges render the world around us seemingly uncontrollable, how should we respond politically and ethically? Professor Behr’s timely intervention tackles this question head-on suggesting a new set of ethical principles around ‘reversibility’ for policy and political action. This book is essential reading for all seeking to develop policy and politics in an uncertain world."


Milja Kurki, EH Carr Chair, Aberystwyth University


 

"Behr tackles a fundamental dilemma of human existence. We must act but we cannot know the future and therefore the consequences of our actions. How ought we respond to this troubling uncertainty in an ethical and politically efficacious way? We must do our best to avoid actions whose consequences are likely to be irreversible. This ethical commitment is defended in a convincing manner and its implications for policy explored in a sophisticated and imaginative way."


Ned Lebow, Prof emeritus Dartmouth College (USA) and King’s College, London


 

"Against the deterministic assumptions of rationalism, Reversibility presents a groundbreaking argument that takes us from the characteristics of the human condition, through to their implications for thinking and acting in a non-linear, contingent world. The book is a tour de force of passionate philosophical thinking, but more importantly a deeply persuasive account of how we need to think, judge and act beyond and through the human in the Anthropocene."


Kimberly Hutchings, Professor of Politics and IR, Queen Mary University of London



“This book is an impressive achievement. It guides the reader with clarity and confidence in outlining a concept of reversibility that skilfully combines theoretical nuance with policy relevance.”


Magdalena Zolkos, Professor at the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä




Past Research awards

 

International Research Network “Classical Realism Meets Critical Theory: Crises, Modernity, and the Return of Humanity”; Principal Investigator, funded by The Leverhulme Trust (IN-2012-122), 2013-2015

  

Research and Workshop Grant, “Reorienting Realism”, funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Principal Investigator together with Sean Molloy, 2012/2013

 

US-UK Fulbright Commission, Scholar in Residence Award, Spring 2009 (withdrawn by nominee)

Teaching Fellowship, funded by German Academic Exchange Service DAAD (2008), for a two week course on “The EU as Global Actor” at the University of Kiev/Mohyla Academy

 

Research Fellowship, “Arabic and EU discourses on the root causes of terrorism violence”, funded by the British Academy, Co-Investigator, 2006

 

Research Fellowship, ““Global Cities” and the transnational accumulation of political power: Tokyo, Berlin, Washington (DC)”, funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science JSPS, 2004/2005 (host university: University of Tsukuba)

 

Research Grant, “Entterritoriale Politik – Von den Internationalen Beziehungen zur Netzwerkanalyse”, funded by the German Research Council, Principal Investigator, 2001-2003

 

Feodor Lynen Research Fellow, “Entterritoriale Politik”, funded by the Alexander of Humboldt – Foundation, Principal Investigator, 2000/2001 (host university: University of Pittsburgh)

 

Research Grant, “Immigration in the Nation State: US, France, Germany”, funded by the German Marshall Fund, Principal Investigator, 1994

 

Research Grant for PhD thesis, “Immigration in the Nation State: US, France, Germany”, Principal Investigator, funded by the Friedrich Ebert – Foundation (1992)

 

Book Awards of the Geschwister Böhringer Foundation for Liberal Arts and Humanities, Ingelheim/Rhein (Germany) for

- Zuwanderungspolitik im Nationalstaat (PhD thesis/monograph)

- Entterritoriale Politik (post-doc „Habilitation“ thesis/monograph)

- Säkularisierung und Resakralisierung in westlichen Gesellschaften (edited volume)


Several smaller conference, workshop, and travel grants

 

 

 

            


Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

POL 3081 International Political Thought (1. Semester)
POL 2082 Political Violence and the Modern State (2. Semester)

Postgraduate Teaching

POL 8006 Theories of International Relations (1. Semester)
POL 8051 Ethics in IR (2. Semester)


Extracurricular

Weekly Supervision Research Colloquium with UG, PGT, and PhD supervisees (personal invitation)

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I am interested in the supervision of PhD and MA theses in the context of IR theories, political theory, peace studies, and intellectual history 

Publications