Saskia Sassen
Dutch-American sociologist (born 1947)
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Through Sociology, Globalization and Human migration
Education
From 1966, Sassen spent a year each at the Université de Poitiers, France, the Università degli Studi di Roma, and the University of Buenos Aires, for studies in philosophy and political science. From 1969, Sassen studied sociology and economics at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, United States where she obtained a M.A. in 1971 and a Ph.D. degree in 1974, under the direction of Fabio Dasilva. She also received a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Poitiers in 1974.
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Academic posts
After being a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, Sassen held various academic positions in and outside the US, such as the Ralph Lewis Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. She is currently Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and Centennial Visiting professor of Political Economy in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Sassen emerged as a prolific author in urban sociology. She studied the impacts of globalisation such as economic restructuring, and how the movements of labour and capital influence urban life. She also studied the influence of communication technology on governance. Sassen observed how nation states begin to lose power to control these developments, and she studied increasing general transnationalism, including transnational human migration. She identified and described the phenomenon of the global city. Her 1991 book bearing this title made her a widely quoted author on globalisation. An updated edition of her book was published in 2001. In the early 2000s, Sassen focused on immigration and globalization, with her "denationalization" and "transnationalism" projects (see Bibliography and External Links, below). Her books have been translated into 21 languages. Committee on Italian, European and International Criminal Procedure – Ibrerojur.
Personal life
Sassen was born in The Hague, Netherlands in 1947. In 1948, Sassen's parents, Willem Sassen, a Dutch collaborator, Nazi journalist and member of the Waffen-SS, and Miep van der Voort, moved to Argentina and the family lived in Buenos Aires. Saskia Sassen spent part of her youth in Italy and says she was "brought up in five languages."
She is married to sociologist Richard Sennett.
Honors and awards
- In January 2004, Sassen received the honoris causa degree in urbanism at Delft University of Technology.
- In 2013, she received the Premio Princesa de Asturias in social sciences.
- In 2014, she received the honoris causa degree at Universidad de Murcia (Spain) and École normale supérieure (Paris).
- In 2016, she received the honoris causa degree at Universitat de València (Spain).
- In 2017, she received the honoris causa degree at Universidad de Guadalajara (Mexico).