Patrik Aspers

Patrik Aspers (born 1970) is a Swedish sociologist, who is chair of Sociology at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He has previously worked in several countries. His research has mostly been on sociological theory and economic sociology, often drawing on phenomenology. Markets are the central topic of his research, and empirically he has mainly studied the fashion industry. Aspers has written on market fashioning, ontology, and uncertainty. He has developed sociological concepts such as "aesthetic markets", "status markets" and "standard markets".

Background Aspers earned a PhD at Stockholm University (2001). He studied under the supervision of Richard Swedberg. Harrison White is also among the teachers he had as a PhD student. He has previously worked or been a visiting scholar; for example, Uppsala University, Stockholm University, Harvard University, Columbia University, the London School of Economics, College de France, and Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies. Aspers was President of the Swedish Sociological Association (2010–2012).

Selected publications