C. Fred Alford

C. Fred Alford
Born	Charles Frederick Alford
Nationality	American
Awards	Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Work in Psychohistory Three Fulbright Fellowships
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin (Ph.D.) Austin College (B.A.)
Academic work
Discipline	Moral psychology, psychoanalysis, social theory
Institutions	University of Maryland, College Park

Charles Frederick Alford is an American scholar known for his work in moral psychology, psychoanalysis, and social theory. He is Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Emeritus at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he taught for thirty-eight years. Alford has published extensively on topics such as trauma, evil, and whistleblowing, employing a psychoanalytic approach to explore these subjects. His research focuses on classical political theory, political psychology, psychoanalysis, and politics. His work explores the psychological roots of morality, trauma, and their impact on nations, societies, and groups.^[1]

Early life and education

Alford earned his Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin in 1979 and his B.A. from Austin College in 1969.^[2]

Career

Alford served as a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was named a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher. In 2009, he was chosen as the best teacher on the College Park campus by the Chancellor Kirwan Award Committee. He also received multiple teaching excellence awards from the American Political Science Association and Pi Sigma Alpha.^[3]

Alford co-edited the "Psychoanalysis and Society" series with Cornell University Press and served as executive director of the Association for Psychoanalysis, Culture, and Society for twelve years.^[4] He was also President of the American Political Science Association's Psychology and Politics section. Additionally, he served on the editorial boards of six journals, including Political Psychology and Psychoanalysis, Culture, and Society.^[5]

Contributions to psychoanalysis and social theory

Alford is particularly noted for recognizing the social theory implicit in the work of Melanie Klein, as explored in his book Melanie Klein and Critical Social Theory (Yale, 1989; reprint 2005). His development of these ideas remains influential.^[6][7]

His research extends to the psychoanalytic dimensions of trauma, evil, and whistleblowing. He conducted a year-long weekly discussion group with imprisoned rapists and murderers to study the concept of evil and examined Eastern perspectives on evil through studies in South Korea. He argues that the primary experience of evil is existential rather than moral.^[8]

He has also published over thirty book chapters, numerous encyclopedia articles, and over seventy refereed journal articles. He regularly contributes to The Montreal Review and curates two blogs, traumatheory.com and godblog.org, the latter of which led to his book God Now: Christianity and Heresy.^[9][10]

Media and public engagement

Since the publication of Whistleblowers: Broken Lives and Organizational Power, Alford has given over 200 interviews to various news outlets, including NBC, The New York Times, ABC, and The Washington Post, discussing the trauma faced by whistleblowers and the power dynamics within organizations.^[11]

Awards and honors

Alford has received several awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Work in Psychohistory from the Psychohistory Forum. He has been awarded three Fulbright Fellowships, including two Senior Fulbright Research Fellowships to Germany and South Korea.^[1][12]

References

1. "Alford, C. Fred - GVPT l Government & Politics Department l University of Maryland". University of Maryland, College Park.
2. Wallulis, Jerry (1989). "C. Fred Alford, "Narcissism: Socrates, the Frankfurt School and Psychoanalytic Theory."". Philosophy in Review. pp. 175–177.
3. "C. Fred Alford - Essays". The Montreal Review.
4. "Back Matter". Theory & Society. 29 (1): 147–149. 2000. JSTOR 3108482.
5. "C. Fred Alford". Wipf and Stock Publishers.
6. Alford, C. Fred (1989). "Melanie Klein and critical social theory : an account of politics, art, and reason based on her psychoanalytic theory". Yale University Press.
7. Abraham, Laurie. "Anatomy of a Whistleblower". Mother Jones.
8. Alford, C. Fred (17 May 2024). "The whistleblowers". Science. 384 (6697): 746. Bibcode:2024Sci...384..746A. doi:10.1126/science.adk2075.
9. "45: Fate of Whistleblowers - C. Fred Alford". Talking About Organizations Podcast. 2 August 2018.
10. "About me, C. Fred Alford, and this site". godblog.
11. Watson, Tony (10 March 2025). "Whistleblower persecutions. The cost of ignoring those who dare speak out". Michael West (journalist).
12. "Makers of Psychohistory: Third Psychohistory Forum's Lifetime Achievement Awards Ceremony (Panelists and Awardees: C. Fred Alford; David J. Fisher; William M. Runyan, Daniel Rancour-Laferriere; Marshall Alcorn; William Nye; Jim Anderson; & Paul Elovitz.) - INTERNATIONAL PSYCHOHISTORICAL ASSOCIATION". Psychohistory.