Events

KLI Colloquia are invited research talks of about an hour followed by 30 min discussion. The talks are held in English, open to the public, and offered in hybrid format. 

Join via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923

Spring-Summer 2026 KLI Colloquium Series

12 March 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

What Is Biological Modality, and What Has It Got to Do With Psychology?

Carrie Figdor (University of Iowa)

 

26 March 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Science of an Evolutionary Transition in Humans

Tim Waring (University of Maine)

 

9 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Hierarchies and Power in Primatology and Their Populist Appropriation

Rebekka Hufendiek (Ulm University)

 

16 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

A Metaphysics for Dialectical Biology

Denis Walsh (University of Toronto)

 

30 April 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

What's in a Trait? Reconceptualizing Neurodevelopmental Timing by Seizing Insights From Philosophy

Isabella Sarto-Jackson (KLI)

 

7 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Evolutionary Trajectory of Human Hippocampal-Cortical Interactions

Daniel Reznik (Max Planck Society)

 

21 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Why Directionality Emerged in Multicellular Differentiation

Somya Mani (KLI)

 

28 May 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Interplay of Tissue Mechanics and Gene Regulatory Networks in the Evolution of Morphogenesis

James DiFrisco (Francis Crick Institute)

 

11 June 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

Brave Genomes: Genome Plasticity in the Face of Environmental Challenge

Silvia Bulgheresi (University of Vienna)

 

25 June 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET

The Evolvability of the Mammalian Ear: From Microevolutionary Variation to Macroevolutionary Patterns

Anne LeMaitre (KLI)

 

KLI Colloquia 2014 – 2026

Event Details

Rebekka Hufendiek
KLI Colloquia
Hierarchies and Power in Primatology and Their Populist Appropriations
Rebekka HUFENDIEK (Ulm University)
2026-04-09 15:00 - 2026-04-09 16:30
Hybrid
Organized by KLI

Join via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923

Topic description / abstract

Hierarchies, social organization, the distribution of power within groups, and shifts in these power structures have long been central topics in primatology (see e.g. De Waal 1982). Primatologists occasionally draw on their findings to offer indirect evidence for narratives about the evolution of human social behavior, roles, and cognition. These applications, however, remain speculative to some extent. Nevertheless, they frequently appear in popular media and, in recent decades, have been appropriated by fringe and right-wing online communities to promote ideas about “natural” hierarchies and fixed social roles.

In this talk I aim to reconstruct some of the interactions between primatological research and its public reception, situating them within the philosophy of science. I argue that applying primatological findings to human evolution inevitably involves mixed claims—that is, claims with both descriptive and normative dimensions. I suggest that explicitly engaging with the normative components of such claims could help safeguard scientific research against populist misappropriations.
 
Biographical note
 
Rebekka Hufendiek completed her PhD in philosophy in 2012 at Humboldt University of Berlin. She has published numerous papers and a book on embodied emotions (2015). After postdoctoral positions at the Universities of Fribourg (2012) and Basel (2013) and research stays at the University of Exeter (2016) and the Alfried Krupp Kolleg in Greifswald (2020), she was awarded an Eccellenza Grant by the SNSF (2020). As Assistant Professor at the University of Bern, she led the research group “Explaining Human Nature: Empirical and Ideological Dimensions.” Since 2023, she has been Professor of Philosophy at Ulm University, working mainly on science, values, and ideology.