Prof. Abram de Swaan (59) has been University Professor in social sciences at the Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) from 1 September 2001 until 1 January 2007. Before that he was professor of Sociology from 1973 to 2001.

De Swaan’s first publication was Amerika in termijnen; een ademloos verslag uit de USA (America in installments, a breathless report from the USA) in 1968 and obtained his doctorate degree cum laude in 1973 with Coalition theories and cabinet formations.

From 1969 to 1991 he was editor of the general cultural monthly magazine De Gids. Together with Paul van den Bos he made a series of tv documentaries. In 1971 a tv movie appeared and a book with the title Een boterham met tevredenheid; gesprekken met fabrieksarbeiders (And a pat on the back to boot; Conversations with factory workers) was published.

De Swaan wrote short articles for the Dutch newspaper NRC/Handelsblad on a weekly basis, which have been published in three volumes. In 1991 newly collected essays were published with the title Perron Nederland (Platform the Netherlands; essays on culture, high and low, far and near). De mensenmaatschappij  (Human society; An introduction) was published in 1996. In 2001 'Words of the world; the global language system' was published, together with a special edition of De Gids: De woorden van de Swaan. ‘Dutch welfare reforms in an expanding Europe. The neighbours' view’ was published in 2004.

Since 2004 De Swaan has been Director of the Academia Europea de Yuste, España.