Jens Beckert

Jens Beckert (born 21 July 1967 in Frankfurt am Main) is a German sociologist with a strong interest in economic sociology. The author of books on inherited wealth and the social foundations of economic efficiency, he focuses on the role of the economy in society – especially based on studies of markets – as well as organizational sociology, the sociology of inheritance, and sociological theory. He is director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG) in Cologne, Germany, and a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Beckert earned his MA in sociology at the New School for Social Research in New York City in 1991 and his MBA at Free University of Berlin in 1993. He earned his doctorate with a dissertation in the field of economic sociology in 1996 at Free University of Berlin and his habilitation at the same university with a book on the sociology of inheritance in 2003.

An associate professorship in sociology at International University Bremen (2002-2003) and a professorship in sociology at the University of Göttingen (2003-2005) preceded Beckert’s appointment at age 37 as director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG), which conducts basic research on the governance of modern societies. Beckert has had visiting fellowships at Princeton University, Harvard University, the European University Institute in Florence, the Center for the Sociology of Organizations (CSO) in Paris, and the Paris Institute for Advanced Study. He gave a Mario Einaudi Lecture at the Center for International Studies at Cornell University in 2007.

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