Eva Illouz
Sociologist
Eva Illouz is a French-Israeli sociologist. She is Director of Studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS). Her research interests include the sociology of culture, the sociology of emotions, the sociology of capitalism, and the effect of consumerism and mass media on emotional patterns. Illouz is the author of 19 books translated into 25 languages. Her books address topics as diverse as the commodification of love by capitalism, the emergence of psychological culture, the industry of happiness, the role of emotions in democracy, the impact of technology on emotions, and new forms of antisemitism. Eva Illouz is a regular contributor to Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Haaretz, El Pais, and other publications. Her work has played a key role in the renewal of critical theory.
Eva Illouz is the recipient of numerous international awards such as the Aby Warburg Prize, the Frank Schirrmacher Prize, and the EMET Prize for Social Sciences. In 2026 she received the highest scientific distinction of Israel, the Israel Award, which the minister of education denied to her because of her political positions. Eva Illouz is an Honorary Fellow at the Thomas Mann House.
Selected Awards
2025 | Marbacher Schillerrede
2024 | Frank Schirrmacher Prize
2024 | Aby Warburg Prize
2019 | Niklas Luhmann Visiting Professorship, Faculty of Sociology, Bielefeld University
2018 | EMET Prize for Social Sciences
2018 | Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
2016 | Hedi Fritz-Niggli Visiting Professorship, University of Zurich
2014 | Award for Distinguished Contributions to Scholarship, American Sociological Association
Selected Publications
2026 | Über die Ursprünge des neuen Antisemitismus. Berlin: Suhrkamp.
2026 | Explosive Emotions: How Modern Society Shapes What We Feel. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
2021 | The End of Love: A Sociology of Negative Relations. Cambridge: Polity.
2012 | Why Love Hurts: A Sociological Explanation. Cambridge: Polity.
2008 | Saving the Modern Soul: Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-Help. Berkeley: University.
2007 | Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism. London: Polity.
1997 | Consuming the Romantic Utopia: Love and the Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. Berkeley: University of California Press.