Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professorship

Inspired by Karl Polanyi, the Hungarian-Austrian critic of market fundamentalism, the Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professorship stimulates debates on burning issues of the 21st century – from Covid-19 to climate crisis. By inviting renowned international scholars with an interdisciplinary outlook it aims at exploring pathways to put the economy in its place. The Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professorship is a cooperation project of University of Vienna, Vienna University of Economics and Business [WU], Central European University [CEU]), the International Karl Polanyi Society (IKPS) and the Volkshochschule Wien (VHS Wien) and is supported by the Vienna Chamber of Labour and the City of Vienna. The Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professor will hold a PhD-seminar at a Viennese university, give a public lecture and participate in an internal workshop, accompanied with a public debate.

WINTER 2024/25

Stay tuned for more information coming soon!

Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professorship LOGO no affiliation logos

Lane Kenworthy
Professor of Sociology and Yankelovich Chair in Social Thought
University of California-San Diego, USA

SUMMER 2024

Attila Melegh
Professor of Sociology
Corvinus University Budapest, Hungary

The Vienna Karl Polanyi Visiting Professorship aims at:

  • advancing interdisciplinary research on contemporary challenges, be it Covid-19, climate crisis, democracy or care
  • gaining insights for contemporary analysis by continuing and rediscovering Karl Polanyi’s intellectual legacy
  • actualizing the Viennese heritage of lively academic and political debate from “Red Vienna” in the 1920s, which inspired Karl Polanyi´s reflections in “The Great Transformation”
  • intensifying cooperation between Viennese universities as well as other educational institutions in understanding and shaping ongoing transformations
  • stimulating public debate by linking university research to adult education