Christina Carsten’s research focuses on organizational anthropology, particularly in the context of globalization, governance, and sociocultural dynamics. Currently, her work examines the role of think tanks and policy professionals in shaping global governance, producing knowledge, and influencing political decision-making. She is also investigating how think tanks and corporate organizations engage in climate change governance. Another area of her research explores future foresight and scenario creation in policy development.
Garsten has extensively studied organizational culture, transparency, accountability, and corporate social responsibility (CSR), focusing on the intersections of ethics, profit, and voluntary business regulation. Her work also delves into labor market dynamics, such as flexibility and employability, and how these shape individual identity and subjectivity.
2022 – President of NetiAS (Network of European Institutes for Advanced Study)
2021 – Professor, Uppsala University
2018 – Principal, Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS)
2011 – Chair of the Executive Board of Score (Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research), Stockholm University and Stockholm School of Economics
2008 – Professor, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University
2013 – 2015, 2015- 2019 Professor, Department of Intercultural Communication and Management, Copenhagen Business School (full-time 2013-2015, thereafter part-time)
2003 – 2008 Research Director, Score (Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research), Stockholm University and Stockholm School of Economics
2003 – 2007 Senior lecturer, Department of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University
1998 – 2002 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Social Anthropology, Stockholm University
1995 – 1998 Researcher, Score (Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research), Stockholm University and Stockholm School of Economics
Books
– Garsten, Christina and Adrienne Sörbom. 2018. Discreet Power: How the World Economic Forum Shapes Market Agendas. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9781503606043
– Garsten, Christina and Adrienne Sörbom, eds. 2017. Power, Policy and Profit: Corporate Engagement in Politics and Governance. Basingstoke: Edward Elgar.
– Garsten, Christina, Bo Rothstein and Stefan Svallfors. 2015. Maktutan mandat. De policyprofessionella i välfärdssamhället. Stockholm: Dialogos Förlag.
– Garsten, Christina, Jessica Lindvert and Renita Thedvall. 2015. Makeshift Work: The Swedish Model in the Post-Financial Crisis Era. Bastingstoke: Edward Elgar.
– Eriksen Thomas Hylland, Christina Garsten and Shalini Randeria, eds. 2014. Anthropology Now and Next: Diversity, Connections, Confrontations, Reflexivity. London: Berghahn Publishers.
Articles
– Garsten, C. 2024. Think tanks and the ecology of ideas: Editing futures. In An Ecology of Ideas Permeating Science, Higher Education and Society. S. Arora-Jonsson et al., eds. Uppsala: AUU.
– Garsten, Christina and Adrienne Sörbom, 2023. Discreet diplomacy: Practices of secrecy in transnational think tanks, Cambridge Journal of Anthropology, 41:1.
– Garsten, Christina and Adrienne Sörbom. 2022. Future fears: Anticipation and the politics of emotion in the Future Industry, Culture Unbound, 13:3: 26-44.
– Garsten, Christina and Adrienne Sörbom. 2021. Discretionary governance: Selection, secrecy, and status within the World Economic Forum, Global Governance, 27: 540-560.
– Garsten, Christina. 2021. A window onto Capitol Hill: Cunning conservatism and shadow politics, Kritisk Etnografi, Swedish Journal of Anthropology, 4(1): 9-23.
2020 Elected member of Kungliga Vetenskaps-societeten (The Royal Society of Sciences), Uppsala
2018 Recipient of the Thureus Award, Kungliga Vetenskaps-societeten (The Royal Society of Sciences), Uppsala University
2006 Honorary Senior Research Associate, Cambridge University, Judge Institute of Management Studies
2002 Award for Excellence: VR (The Swedish Research Council). Project: Fashioning markets: Accountability and transparency in the global marketplace
1997 Award for Most Creative Paper presented at the 13th EGOS (European Group for Organization Studies) Colloquium, Budapest
1994 Award for Outstanding Scientific Contribution, doctoral dissertation thesis Apple World, issued by The University Association, Stockholm University
