Roland Paulsen


Roland Karl Oscar Ericsson Paulsen, born December 17, 1981, in Hägersten, Stockholms län, is a Swedish author and sociologist. His thesis Empty Labor: Idleness And Workplace Resistance is about people who devote more than half of their work time to private activities, so-called "empty work". The dissertation was published at Cambridge University Press and received international attention from among others The Atlantic, The Economist and The Wall Street Journal.

Other writings

Roland Paulsen writes columns for Dagens Nyheter, Swedens biggest newspaper. In these he has among other things explained his view on inequality and his critique of the theories of Hans Rosling. He has also co-authored Return to Meaning: A Social Science with Something to say in which the authors address how the ‘publish or perish’ game produces meaningless social science research that cannot address social problems and just serve to further academic tenure and promotion.

Awards