Saskia Sassen
Saskia Sassen (born January 5, 1947) is a Dutch-American sociologist noted for her analyses of globalization and international human migration. She is Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and Centennial visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. Sassen coined the term global city.
Family and early life
Sassen was born in The Hague, Netherlands in 1947. In 1948 Sassen's parents, Willem Sassen and Miep van der Voort, escaped to Argentina and the family lived in Buenos Aires. Her father was a Dutch collaborator with the Nazis, a Nazi journalist and a member of the Waffen-SS. In the 1950s Willem Sassen was close to Adolf Eichmann when both were living in Argentina and she recalls him visiting her childhood home. Saskia Sassen also spent part of her youth in Italy and says she was "brought up in five languages."
She is married to sociologist Richard Sennett. Artist Hilary Koob-Sassen is her son from her first marriage.
Education
From 1966, Sassen spent a year each at the Université de Poitiers, France, the Università degli Studi di Roma, and the University of Buenos Aires, for studies in philosophy and political science. From 1969, Sassen studied sociology and economics at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, where she obtained a M.A. in 1971 and a Ph.D. degree in 1974. She also received a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Poitiers in 1974.
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