Manfred B. Steger

Manfred B. Steger
Name	Manfred B. Steger
Birth date	1961
Birth place	Vienna, Austria
Nationality	Austrian–American
Alma mater	University of Vienna; Rutgers University; University of Hawaiʻi
Occupation	Professor, Author, Scholar
Known for	Globalization studies; ideologies; political theory

Manfred B. Steger is an Austrian–American scholar of globalization, political theory, and ideology studies who has authored numerous books and articles on global processes, transnationalism, and ideologies. He is known for interdisciplinary work that bridges Marx, Max Weber, Émile Durkheim, and contemporary theorists such as Anthony Giddens, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Ulrich Beck. His research and teaching have engaged institutions including Rutgers University, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, University of Vienna, University of Illinois, and Monash University.

Early life and education

Steger was born in Vienna and pursued undergraduate studies at the University of Vienna, where he encountered scholarship linked to Austro-Marxism, Vienna Circle, and scholars such as Otto Neurath, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Karl Popper. He completed graduate work at Rutgers University and earned a Ph.D. from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he engaged with transdisciplinary programs connected to Pacific Islands Studies, Asian Studies, and scholars such as Marshall Sahlins and Sidney Mintz. His education involved dialogues with theorists associated with World-Systems Theory, Critical Theory, and Postcolonialism, placing him in conversation with figures like Eric Wolf, Immanuel Wallerstein, Edward Said, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.

Academic career

Steger held academic appointments at University of Hawaiʻi, Rutgers University, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and later at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Binghamton University (SUNY), before taking a position at University of Vienna and La Trobe University. He has been affiliated with research centers such as the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies, the Global Studies Association, and the International Sociological Association. Steger has participated in conferences hosted by United Nations University, World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and European Union research networks, collaborating with scholars from Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, Oxford University, Cambridge University, London School of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, Columbia University, New York University, University of Toronto, McGill University, University of British Columbia, Australian National University, Monash University, University of Melbourne, National University of Singapore, Peking University, Tsinghua University, University of Tokyo, Seoul National University, University of São Paulo, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, University of Cape Town, and University of the Witwatersrand.

Key publications and theories

Steger authored and co-authored monographs including "Globalization: A Very Short Introduction", "The Rise of the Global Imaginary", "Globalism: The New Market Ideology", and "The Routledge Handbook of Globalization Studies", engaging with texts by Thomas Friedman, Samuel Huntington, Joseph Nye, Francis Fukuyama, Saskia Sassen, and Manuel Castells. His theorization of "global imaginary" builds on concepts from Benedict Anderson's "imagined communities", Étienne Balibar's cosmopolitanism debates, and debates involving Hannah Arendt and John Rawls. Steger's work on "globalism" analyzes ideological formations alongside studies by Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek, John Maynard Keynes, and critiques originating in Karl Polanyi and Antonio Gramsci. He edited volumes that brought together contributors such as David Held, Martin Albrow, Arjun Appadurai, Roberto Unger, Nancy Fraser, Chantal Mouffe, Niklas Luhmann, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Slavoj Žižek, Judith Butler, Cornel West, and Iris Marion Young.

Research areas and influence

Steger's research spans globalization studies, ideology studies, political theory, and comparative politics, intersecting with literature on global governance, transnationalism, neoliberalism, and cosmopolitanism. He engages with policy debates involving institutions like the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization, World Bank, European Central Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Union, ASEAN, Mercosur, NAFTA, G20, and United Nations. His influence appears in curricula at universities including Binghamton University, Rutgers University, University of Vienna, La Trobe University, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Chicago, London School of Economics, and in journals such as Globalizations (journal), International Political Sociology, Theory, Culture & Society, Journal of World-Systems Research, Third World Quarterly, New Political Science, Political Studies Review, European Journal of International Relations, International Studies Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, Sociology Compass, Critical Sociology, Global Policy, Review of International Political Economy, American Political Science Review, American Journal of Sociology, British Journal of Sociology, International Affairs, and Development and Change.

Awards and honors

Steger received fellowships and awards from bodies including Social Science Research Council, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Fulbright Program, National Endowment for the Humanities, Australian Research Council, European Commission, and research recognition from Berggruen Institute and American Council of Learned Societies. His books have been honored with prizes from scholarly associations like the International Studies Association, Global Studies Association, and national humanities organizations including the Austrian Science Fund and Humanities Australia.

Personal life and public engagement

Steger has engaged publicly through media outlets and platforms such as BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, Le Monde, El País, The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), NPR, CBC, Deutsche Welle, France 24, Süddeutsche Zeitung, The Economist, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, and policy forums linked to United Nations Development Programme, World Economic Forum, Chatham House, Council on Foreign Relations, and the Brookings Institution. He has lectured at venues including Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Royal Institute of International Affairs, Council on Foreign Relations, The Aspen Institute, and cultural institutions like Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity. He is married and lives between Vienna and Melbourne, maintaining collaborations with scholars across Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.

Category:Living people Category:Austrian emigrants to the United States Category:Academics of La Trobe University Category:University of Vienna alumni