Larissa Buchholz is an award-winning sociologist who works at the intersections of the sociology of art and culture, global and transnational sociology, and theory. She also has interests in comparative-historical sociology, the sociology of markets, and the sociology of intellectuals and knowledge. Having earned four graduate degrees (three Master’s degrees and a PhD in sociology from Columbia University), Buchholz is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Sociology (by courtesy) at Northwestern University and a faculty fellow at the Critical Realism Network at Yale University. She was the first woman to be elected as a sociologist to the Harvard Society of Fellows in its nearly 100-year history.
Buchholz’s book, The Global Rules of Art (Princeton University Press, 2022), examines the emergence of a global cultural field and how artists from formerly “peripheral” countries achieve global visibility and recognition. Among reviews, the book has been described as “a stunning scholarly achievement that sets a new standard for sociology,” “theoretically and empirically exceptional,” and “a reference book for now and future generations.” The study also won the International Book Award for Art. Buchholz has additionally published more than thirty academic pieces (including peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and encyclopedia entries), which have been cited by scholars across six continents in the social sciences and humanities.
Buchholz has given keynote addresses at leading academic institutions both nationally and internationally, including Cambridge University (UK), the University of Pennsylvania (USA), the Max Planck Institute (Cologne, Germany), Uppsala University (Sweden), and the University of Geneva (Switzerland), among others. Her scholarship has garnered multiple awards, including a Fulbright Award, the Alex Inkeles Prize, the Robert K. Merton Award at Columbia University, the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the American Sociological Association, a William F. Milton Fund Award at Harvard University, the Junior Theorist Prize of the International Sociological Association, the Junior Theorist Award of the American Sociological Association, and the Outstanding Recent Alumni Award from Columbia University.
Outside the U.S., Buchholz has offered seminars or held visiting scholarships in Germany, France, Hungary, Austria, Mexico, Qatar, and China. In addition to her academic pursuits, she has also consulted for cultural organizations both in the United States and internationally. She serves as co-editor of the American Sociological Association’s flagship theory journal Sociological Theory and a Trustee of The International Art Market Studies Association (TIAMSA).