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  4. Mattias Bengtsson

Mattias Bengtsson

Professor

Department of Sociology and Work Science
Telephone
+46 31-786 47 78
Mail
mattias.bengtsson@socav.gu.se
Visiting address
Skanstorget 18
41122 Göteborg
Room number
F135
Postal address
Box 720
40530 Göteborg

About Mattias Bengtsson

Background

Since February 2025, I have been Professor of Sociology at the University of Gothenburg (previously Professor of Sociology, specialising in the development of working life and welfare, at the University of Borås). I received my PhD in 2008 with the doctoral thesis The Individual Clocks In: Work, Trade Unions and Wages from a Sociological Perspective.

Research areas

My research has primarily focused on transformations of social protection systems and labour market policy, industrial relations, retirement and the meaning of work, as well as the development of sociological theory. My research has often addressed issues of social inequality, particularly from a social class perspective. For example, I have studied social class in relation to the individualisation of working life, social comparisons, social mobility, class identification, attitudes towards trade unions, and political attitudes.

Since 2014, I have, together with Marita Flisbäck, developed an existential sociological approach, e.g. in studies of individuals’ meaning-making during the retirement process, orientations towards work as a calling, and older workers’ competencies and existential motivations for extending their working lives. See, e.g., this theoretical article: A sociology of existence for a late modern world. Basic assumptions and conceptual tools - Flisbäck - 2024 - Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour - Wiley Online Library

From 2021 to 2026, I have worked within a Nordic research project comparing policy changes, actor strategies, and the labour market and welfare-related effects of the pandemic in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. See recently published article: COVID‐19 Pandemic: A Catalyst for More Comprehensive Unemployment Benefits for the Self‐Employed in Scandinavia? - Jesnes - 2026 - Social Policy & Administration - Wiley Online Library

In an ongoing FORTE research programme (2023–2029), I study climate policy, social sustainability, and the just transition. This involves analyses of labour market and welfare challenges at the municipal and regional levels in connection with the green transition in the automotive industry in Western Sweden, as well as analyses of changes in climate and welfare policy at the national level. Further information is available here: Labour market challenges of green transition in West Sweden: Electrification and the transition of the automotive cluster | University of Gothenburg

From 2026 to 2031, I am also participating in the UGOT-ReWork research centre within the project “Navigating concepts, policy and practice in the field of return to work”. Further information is available here: https://www.gu.se/forskning/att-navigera-bland-begrepp-policy-och-praktik-i-faltet-atergang-i-arbete

In addition, I recently completed a project at the University of Borås entitled “The New Labour Market Policy Landscape – Cross-Sectoral Collaboration from a Municipal Perspective”. This is one example of my interest in Sweden’s work-first principle (arbetslinjen) and how it is manifested in changes to active labour market policy and the unemployment and sickness insurance systems. See recently published article: Marketization, Rescaled Responsibilities, and Challenges for Cross-Sector Collaboration in Swedish Employment Services | Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies

I have also previously studied opportunities and barriers to transnational trade union cooperation within the EU, the working poor from a European perspective, and reforms of the Swedish Public Employment Service and their consequences for caseworkers and clients.

My ResearchGate page: Mattias Bengtsson (ResearchGate)

Teaching and supervision

I am responsible for a doctoral course entitled “Classic Works in Work Science: Organisational Perspectives” and for two intermediate-level sociology courses focusing on different dimensions of social inequality and living conditions. For many years, I have also taught on the Work Science Programme in areas such as labour market policy and European industrial relations, and I have served as course coordinator for the bachelor’s-level course “Degree Project in Work Science”. I have also previously taught on various sociology and social psychology courses, as well as on programmes in Human Resource Management, Teacher Education, European Studies, and Nursing.

I am the principal supervisor of Sophie Banasiak, a doctoral student in Work Science, and co-supervisor of Stefan Marjanovic, a doctoral student in Sociology.

I have co-authored and co-edited several textbooks. For example, together with Tomas Berglund, I was editor and contributing author of the third, revised edition of Arbetslivet (Lund: Studentlitteratur, 2017).

Collaboration and academic assignments

  • Board member and editor of the Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies

  • Member of the Editorial Board of Arbetsmarknad & Arbetsliv

  • Member of the Steering Committee of the National Interdisciplinary Network for Existential Perspectives in Research (NEXUS)

  • Former research group leader of the research group Working Life and Welfare in Transition, University of Borås (2023–2025)

  • Member of the Organising Committee for the Nordic Working Life Conference 2028: Sustainable Transitions in Nordic Working Life: Nordic Working Life Conference 2028 – Sustainable Transitions in Nordic Working Life | University of Gothenburg