Göran Therborn
Swedish sociologist, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge
About Göran Therborn
Born 1941. Göran Therborn is a Swedish sociologist, university teacher and political scientist.
Göran Therborn FAcSS (23 September 1941, Kalmar, Sweden) is a professor of sociology at Cambridge University.
Academic work He has published widely in journals such as the New Left Review, and is notable for his writing on topics that fall within the general political and sociological framework of post-Marxism. Topics on which he has written extensively include the intersection between the class structure of society and the function of the state apparatus, the formation of ideology within subjects, and the future of the Marxist tradition.
Education Therborn was born in 1941 into a landowning family. He attended Lund University in Sweden, where he received a Fil. Dr. in 1974.
Notable works In his book The Ideology of Power and the Power of Ideology (1980) Therborn departs from Louis Althusser's writings on the formation of ideology by addressing ideological change, the ideological constitution of classes, and ideological domination. He develops a material matrix of ideologies, and a general outline of how ideologies are formed from a post-Marxist perspective .
From Marxism to Post Marxism? (2008), attempts to convey in a relatively small amount of space a comprehensive history of the development of Marxist theory and the trajectory of Marxist thought in the 21st century.
Honours Therborn was awarded the 2019 Lenin Award. In his acceptance speech, he said: "The Lenin Award is, by its name, an intentional provocation, not only against the bourgeoisie and the good stock market prices, but also against the silent, the cautious and timid, who sit still and patiently wait for what the government will come up with, such as for instance the January agreement this year, about which gaps to expand and what social rights should be cut back."
In the Fall of 1987, Therborn was a Residential Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in Uppsala, Sweden.
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Important facts
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Frequently asked questions
Who is Göran Therborn?
Swedish sociologist, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge
When was Göran Therborn born?
Göran Therborn was born on 23 September 1941 in Kalmar.
What is Göran Therborn's occupation?
Göran Therborn is a sociologist, university teacher and political scientist.
What nationality is Göran Therborn?
Göran Therborn is Swedish.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Göran Therborn. https://biography.guide/goran-therborn/
MLA: "Göran Therborn." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/goran-therborn/.
Chicago: "Göran Therborn." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/goran-therborn/.
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