Bernd Marin


Bernd Marin is an Austrian social scientist.

Life and career

Marin studied social sciences at the University of Vienna and concluded post-graduate training at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Vienna. From 1975 to 1984 he served at the Institute for Conflict Research in Vienna - first as a Research Fellow and later on as a Deputy Director. During this period he also completed his habilitation at the Johannes Kepler University Linz and carried out post-doctoral research at Harvard University.
From 1984 to 1988, Marin held the chair for Comparative Political and Social Research at the European University Institute in Florence. Marin also served as visiting professor at several other universities.
From 1988-2015, he was the Executive Director of the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, a think tank on economics and sociology.
Marin was director of Webster Vienna Private University from October 2015 until June 2016.
From 1979 to 1996 he edited the Journal für Sozialforschung. Marin also contributes to civic debates in newspapers and magazines, radio and TV. He has published more than hundred papers in academic journals and collected volumes and has edited more than twenty books.

Research

As a comparative social scientist, Marin is working on modern welfare societies, social security systems and their sustainability, on innovative employment initiatives, health, care and disability policies, as well as on pension reforms. He empirically analyses knowledge production and economic policy-making, focuses on changes and innovations in the labour markets and gender roles. Marin's role in the Austrian political campus is quite unique - as became clear for example during the controversial debates on pension reform, when all political parties relyed on his expertise.
In the field of social theory, Marin works on corporate, intermediary and societal governance, systems of self-regulation and co-operative change management, promoting the welfare-mix and societal activation as prerequisites of sustainable wealth, health, welfare and well-being.

Selected publications