About Boris Frankel

Professor Boris Frankel is a social theorist, political economist and cultural critic. He is Honorary Principal Fellow in the Architecture, Planning and Building Faculty. He has had over 40 years of teaching and research experience at universities in Australia, Europe and the USA.

Apart from a strong research interest in Australian and international comparative political economy and social policy, he has also researched in the areas of globalisation, the knowledge economy, alternative industry and environmental policies, community development, social change movements, theories of the state and issues of democratic governance.

A long-experienced media commentator and participant in policy debates, his books include Beyond the State?, The Post Industrial Utopians, From the Prophets Deserts Come, When the Boat Comes In: Transforming Australia in the Age of Globalisation and Zombies, Lilliputians and Sadists: The Power of the Living Dead and the Future of Australia. Boris’ work has been included in anthologies alongside leading international theorists and social scientists and translated into numerous languages in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Current research interests include the socio-political problems of transitioning to a post-carbon economy with specific reference to creating sustainable employment and public services in a volatile global economy characterised by high indebtedness, fiscal crises, political gridlock and bitter resistance by powerful socio-economic forces against necessary public policy measures to protect endangered local and global habitats and bio-diversity.