Christina Garsten became Professor of Social Anthropology at Stockholm University in 2008. She served as Chair of the Department of Social Anthropology between 2002 and 2011. Since 2022 she is President of the European network of institutes for advanced study, NetIAS.

Christina Garsten’s research interests lie in organizational anthropology, with a special focus on globalization processes, sociocultural dynamics and forms of governance. Her current research focuses on the role of think tanks and policy professionals in the production and diffusion of knowledge and ideology, in influencing political decision-making processes and in shaping global governance. Particular attention is placed on the creation and use of future foresight activities and scenario creation as part of knowledge creation. A related project is focused on the role of think tanks and corporate-based organizations and their involvement in climate change governance.

Christina Garsten has also contributed to research on organizational culture and its transnational dynamics and to studies of organizational visions and practices of enhanced transparency and accountability in transnational trade. She has studied corporate social responsibility (CSR), newforms of voluntary regulation of business and the perspectives of corporate leaders on responsibility, ethics and profit. Garsten has also conducted extensive research on policy change in the labour market, such as the emphasis on flexibility, employability and learning and their implications for individual subjectivity and identity. A related research approach aims at studying forms of sociality in organizations, with a particular focus on humour, play and boredom, and the interplay of managerial control and individual agency.

Some of her book publications reflecting these research interests are Discreet Power: How the World Economic Forum Shapes Global Markets (with Adrienne Sörbom; Stanford University Press, 2018); Power, Policy and Profit: Corporate Engagement in Politics and Governance (ed. with Adrienne Sörbom; Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017); Makt utan mandat (with Bo Rothstein and Stefan Svallfors; Dialogos Förlag, 2015); Makeshift Work in a Changing Labour Market: The Swedish Model in the Post–Financial Crisis Era (ed. with Jessica Lindvert and Renita Thedvall; Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015); Anthropology Now and Next: Diversity, Connections,Confrontations, Reflexivity (ed. with Thomas Hylland Eriksen and Shalini Randeria; Berghahn, 2014); Organisational Anthropology (ed. with Anette Nyqvist; Pluto Press, 2013); Workplace Vagabonds (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008); Ethical Dilemmas in Management (ed. with Tor Hernes; Routledge, 2009); Organizing Transnational Accountability (ed. with Magnus Boström;
Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008); and Transparency in a New Global Order (ed. with Monica Lindh de Montoya; Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008). For a list of articles and other publications, please see here. External link.

Although a large part of her academic career has been at Stockholm University, Christina Garsten has continuously benefitted from visiting positions at other universities. She has been Visiting Professor at Georgetown University, ESCP Paris and the Centre de Sociologie des Organisations (Sciences Po) and Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, the University of Cambridge, the European University Institute, Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and the University of Leeds. In 2013 she was appointed Professor of Globalization and Organization at Copenhagen Business School, and returned to her position at Stockholm University in 2015 whilst maintaining her affiliation with CBS. In 2000 she was also a Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study.

Christina Garsten serves on academic boards and committees. She is a member of the Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala, a member of the International Advisory Board of the College of Fellows at the University of Tübingen, and a member of the Swedish Society for International Affairs.

Christina Garsten was previously Director of Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research (Score), and later on Chair of the Executive Board of Score. She was a member of the Executive Board of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), former Chair of the Board of the Swedish Anthropological Association (SANT) and a member of the Board of the Society for Economic Anthropology (SEA). Garsten has been Chair of the Forum for Asian Studies and Chair of the Committee for Myrdal Lectures at Stockholm University. She has been a member of the Board of the Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, RJ), served as chair of one of the RJ review panels (Panel for Social Sciences) and a member of the RJ Sector Committee for Research on Civil Society. Christina Garsten has also chaired the Research Panel for Research on Civil Society at the Swedish Research Council (VR). She regularly serves on the European Commission’s research programme evaluation panels as an expert. Garsten is a long-term member of AAA, the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) and the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS). She is a member of the editorial committee of Organization, the European Management Journal and the Scandinavian Journal of Management and has been a member of the American Anthropologist editorial board. She was one of the founding members of the Journal of Business Anthropology and has served on its editorial team.

Christina Garsten took office as Principal of SCAS in August 2018.

This information is accurate as of the academic year 2024-25