Explore our knowledge

Stefan Schwar­zkopf

Associate Professor

Subjects
Geopolitics Security Religion Moral Market

Primary research areas

So­ci­ology of mar­kets after Lib­er­al­ism
How do polit­ic­al dis­tinc­tions and con­cepts make mar­kets, and what is role of uto­pi­an-tem­por­al con­cepts of the fu­ture in this (e.g. in vis­ions of the cir­cu­lar eco­nomy or ‘net zero’)
Geo­pol­it­ics, bor­ders and lines
How can we bring back at­ten­tion to lines, bor­ders and the act of con­crete space or­der­ing – in­stead of events, fluid­ity, and as­semblages – into or­gan­iz­a­tion stud­ies
Para­doxes and the dark sides of busi­ness mor­al­ity
How does the de­sire to do ‘good’ lead to mor­al over-reach and the un­fold­ing of a lo­gic of sec­tari­an­ism, which we know from polit­ic­al cul­tures, but which used to be re­l­at­ively ab­sent in the eco­nomy of so­ci­ety.

Or­gan­iz­a­tion­al strategies and struc­tures in po­lar­ized times

My research helps society understand the challenges that emerge when entrepreneurs and companies as actors with a supposedly economic rationale engage with value-driven social movements. Empirically, I study how organizations engage in non-market strategies, which means I reconstruct how the demand for virtue and ‘morality’ changes organizational strategies, and ultimately capitalism, as organizations begin to interact with the competing civil religions of our time. In theoretical terms, my research puts thresholds, lines, borders and the act of concrete space ordering centre stage – as an antidote to contemporary emphasis on time, events, fluidity, and assemblages. 

I have published in leading journals in management and organization studies, economic sociology, and market studies, such as Organization Studies; Organization; Economy and Society; Environment and Planning D; Marketing Theory; and Theory, Culture & Society. I was Principal Investigator of two DFF-funded research projects (2020-2023). I have won the 2009 Coleman Prize for Best PhD Dissertation in British Business History (awarded by the Association of Business Historians), the 2012 Charles Slater Award for the Best Article in the Journal of Macromarketing, and a number of teaching awards at CBS. I am involved in organizing the bi-annual Interdisciplinary Market Studies Workshops (IMSW).

Recent research projects

The cir­cu­lar­ity trap and own­er­ship avoid­ance

In or­der to live more sus­tain­ably, con­sumers must prac­tice af­fect­ive own­er­ship. Re­cent so­ci­et­al trends un­der­mine these prac­tices of care. This pro­ject stud­ies the causes and im­plic­a­tions.

Pro­gress­ive Geoe­co­nom­ics

The poly­crisis has brought geo­pol­it­ics and se­cur­ity con­cerns back into main­stream man­age­ment re­search. How can loc­al com­munit­ies bring about a set of prac­tices called pro­gress­ive geoe­co­nom­ics?