Helena Flam (born 2 May 1951) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

-born sociologist and Professor of Sociology at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, known for her work on

social organization In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, struc ...

emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

s and

social movement A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...

s.Jasper, James M.
Emotions and social movements: Twenty years of theory and research
." ''Annual Review of Sociology'' 37 (2011): 285-303.

Life and work

After leaving Poland for

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in 1969, Flam studied sociology at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

, where she obtained a ''Filosofie kandidat'' (

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

) degree in 1977. She then obtained an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

, M.Phil. and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

's Department of Sociology in 1977, 1978 and 1982, respectively. Returning to Sweden, she did research at the Scandinavian Institutes of Administrative Research (SIAR) and

SIFO Kantar Sifo, previously TNS Sifo and Sifo Research International, is a Swedish company operating in the field of opinion and social research. Since 1967, Sifo has published its public opinion poll "Voter monitor" () which analyses the party al ...

as well as

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

(1984–85). She then worked for the

Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) is an institute for advanced study in Uppsala, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It bo ...

(1985–87).Prof. Dr. Helena Flam
at University of Leipzig, 2013. In 1987, inadvertently, her academic career in Germany began: she was first a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies,

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, then assistant professor at the

University of Konstanz The University of Konstanz () is a university in the city of Konstanz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its main campus was opened on the Gießberg in 1972 after being founded in 1966. The university is Germany's southernmost university and is ...

(1990–1993), and eventually full professor of sociology at the

. Flam's focus is on

political sociology Political sociology is an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro levels of analysis. Interested in the social causes and consequences of how ...

, in particular

research, and the political dimension of

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

, including

institutional discrimination Institutional discrimination is discriminatory treatment of an individual or group of individuals by institutions, through unequal consideration of members of subordinate groups. Societal discrimination is discrimination by society. These unfair ...

. She also contributed to the

sociology of emotions The Sociology of emotions applies a Sociology, sociological lens to the topic of emotions. The discipline of Sociology, which falls within the social sciences, is focused on understanding both the mind and society, studying the dynamics of the s ...

and rule systems theory.

Books

* ''The Shaping of Social Organization: Social Rule System Theory with Applications.'' London: Sage, 1987. (edited with Tom R. Burns) * ''States and Anti-Nuclear Movements.'' Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1994. (edited & contributed four chapters) * ''Mosaic of Fear: Poland and East Germany before 1989.'' Boulder, Colorado: European Monographs, 1995. * ''The Emotional 'Man' and the Problem of Collective Action.'' Berlin/New York: Peter Lang, 2000. * ''Pink, Purple, Green - Women’s, Religious, Environmental, and Gay/Lesbian Movements in Central Europe Today.'' Boulder, Colorado: East European Monographs, 2001 (edited) * ''Emotions and Social Movements.'' London: Routledge, 2005. (edited with Debra King & contributed two chapters) * ''Rule Systems Theory: Explorations and Applications.'' Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2008. (edited with Marcus Carson & contributed one chapter) * ''Theorizing Emotions: Sociological Explorations and Applications.'' Frankfurt a.M./New York: Campus, 2009. (edited with Debra Hopkins, Jochen Kleres, and Helmut Kuzmics & contributed one chapter) * Methods for Exploring Emotions. London. Routledge, 2015. (edited with Jochen Kleres, also contributed three chapters)

References

External links

Flam's personal page at Leipzig University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flam, Helena Polish sociologists Polish women sociologists 1951 births German women sociologists German sociologists Living people Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Lund University alumni Swedish emigrants to Germany