Current Position: Professor emeritus, University of Cambridge, UK. Affiliated professor of sociology at Linnaeus University, Sweden.
Studies of political science, sociology, and economics at Lund University, Lund, Sweden. Fil. kand. in l965, fil. lic. in l97l. PhD (sociology) from Lund University in l974 (old system, roughly equivalent to a German Habilitation or a French doctorat d'Etat ).
l989-l99l the (only) representative of the social sciences on the Cabinet Advisory Council on Research, Sweden.
1996-2007 co-Director of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, Uppsala (on leave 2007-8, emeritus 2008); from July 1st 2003 also University Professor of Sociology by Cabinet appointment, Uppsala University.
l976 appointed Professor of Sociology at Roskilde University Center, Denmark, but could not take up the position for personal reasons.
Fall l976 Acting Professor, Dept. of Sociology, University of Umeå, Sweden.
2007, July, Teaching summer course on global society and global issues at Korea University, Seoul.
l99l- 93 President, Swedish Sociological Association.
l992-96 On the board of directors of: the Centre for Ibero-American studies, the Seminar for Middle East Studies, and of the Centre for Public Sector Studies, all at Gothenburg University, Sweden.
l989, external evaluator of the social policy studies program at the Catholic University of Brabant (Netherlands).