Social Science and Transdisciplinary Collaborations

Prof. Dr. Schmelzer is deeply engaged in research on the societal challenges of sustainability strategies, transformation conflicts, and economic restructuring, and he is a member of several international networks in these fields. Beyond academic research, he has been active for many years in civil society organizations, co-founded the Network for Economic Transformation, and collaborates with the think tank Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie e.V. At EUF, he aims to advance these research focuses with an emphasis on social science and transdisciplinary collaboration, including energy transition topics. He also sees promising interdisciplinary collaboration opportunities on global inequality, sufficiency research, and heterodox economics.

Internationally Recognized Publications

Prof. Dr. Schmelzer has authored and edited several books and many internationally recognized articles, some of which have been translated into multiple languages. These publications address topics such as international monetary policy, neoliberalism, social movements, positive future visions, economic growth, post-growth society challenges, and socio-ecological class conflicts.

Background in Economic History, Sociology, and Transformation Research

Matthias Schmelzer studied history, political science, economics, and philosophy at Humboldt University Berlin and at the University of California at Berkeley from 2000 to 2008.

In 2013, he earned his doctorate summa cum laude with a highly awarded dissertation on the economic, social, and intellectual history of economic growth, published as "The Hegemony of Growth: The OECD and the Making of the Economic Growth Paradigm" by Cambridge University Press.

From 2013 to 2023, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the universities of Zurich and Geneva and as a research associate at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Jena. Since September 2023, he has held the professorship for socio-ecological transformation research at Europa-Universität Flensburg.

Since 2011, he has also taught at several universities, including Europa-Universität Frankfurt/Oder, Humboldt University Berlin, the University of Zurich, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and the University of Vienna. In summer 2023, he served as a visiting professor at the Center for Applied Ecological Thinking at the University of Copenhagen.

Awards and Scholarships

Dr. Matthias Schmelzer has received several awards and scholarships, including the Best Dissertation Prize from the International Economic History Association (IEHA), the Friedrich Lütge Prize from the Society for Social and Economic History, and the Kapp Research Award from the German Society for Ecological Economics. He has also been awarded scholarships from the DAAD, the German Historical Institutes in Washington, London, and Paris, the DFG, and The New Institute.