Currently a Professorial Fellow in Sociology in the School of Social and Political Sciences, and Member of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, Jack Barbalet is one of Australia’s best-known sociologists. He has an outstanding international reputation for his publications on emotions, Max Weber, and on the sociology of contemporary China. His book Emotion, Social Theory, and Social Structure: A Macrosociological Approach (CUP, 1998) has been particularly influential in bringing attention to the centrality of emotions in all aspects of social life. His publications on Weber, including Weber, Passion and Profits: ‘The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’ in Context (CUP, 2008), Confucianism and the Chinese Self: Re-Examining Max Weber’s China (Palgrave, 2017) and more recently Nation and State in Max Weber: Politics as Sociology (Routledge, 2023), provide a uniquely critical perspective to the appreciation of classical sociological theory and – incidentally – to key aspects of European and also Chinese history. Barbalet��s research on modern Chinese society, marked by a characteristic rigorous analysis, has led to many important publications, including The Theory of Guanxi and Chinese Society (OUP, 2021).

In addition to his extensive teaching, administrative, and research contributions in Australian Universities, Barbalet has held professorial appointments in the UK and Hong Kong as well as in Australia. He has enjoyed visiting appointments in Germany, the US, Turkey, Portugal, and Cambridge.

His current research is concerned with: (i) the social nature and consequences of the emotion envy, (ii) the theoretical implications of different conceptualisations of guanxi (Chinese connections), especially guanxi as social network, social exchange, informal institution, and ritual, and (iii) the social theory and historical context of the 18th century Scottish thinker Adam Smith.

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Jack Barbalet

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