Liah Greenfeld in Memoriam (1954-2026)

The IPSA community was saddened to learn of the passing of Liah Greenfeld, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Political Science, and Anthropology at Boston University, on 13 May 2026. Prof. Greenfeld was a plenary speaker at the 2021 IPSA World Congress of Political Science, where she presented a lecture titled Globalization of Nationalism. On behalf of IPSA and the global political science community, we extend our heartfelt condolences to her family, colleagues, and loved ones.

Called “one of the most original thinkers of the current period” and “the great historian of nationalism,” Prof. Greenfeld was the author of Mind, Modernity, Madness: The Impact of Culture on Human Experience (Harvard University Press, 2013) and other books about modern society and culture, including the ground-breaking Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity (Harvard University Press, 1992) and The Spirit of Capitalism: Nationalism and Economic Growth (Harvard University Press, 2001; Donald Kagan Best Book in European History Prize).

Prof. Greenfeld held the positions of Assistant as well as John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Social Sciences at Harvard University between 1985 and 1994, and in 1994 joined Boston University as a University Professor and Professor of Political Science and Sociology. She also held visiting positions at RPI, MIT, the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris, and the Open University, Hong Kong. From 2010 to 2016, she held the position of Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Lingnan University, Hong Kong.

For more information, please visit her personal website: liahgreenfeld.com/about