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Social Theorist

Mark Granovetter

Sociology

Mark Granovetter is an American sociologist and professor at Stanford University, best known for his work in social network theory and economic sociology. His 1973 paper The Strength of Weak Ties argued that the loosely connected acquaintances in a person's social network, rather than close friends, often carry the most valuable new information, since weak ties bridge otherwise separate social clusters. In 2014 Thomson Reuters named him a Citation Laureate and added him to its list of predicted Nobel Prize winners in economics, and data from the Web of Science credit him with writing both the first and third most cited sociology articles.

Facts
Birth Date
1943-10-20 1
Birth Year
1943 1
Nationality / Culture
American 1
Defining Contribution
His theory on the spread of information in social networks known as The Strength of Weak Ties (1973), and the concept of embeddedness in economic sociology. 1
Notable Work
The Strength of Weak Ties (1973) 1
Connections

Associated With

Granovetter embeddedness theory reframed markets as structured by ongoing social networks and relationships rather than atomized rational exchange.

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Mark Granovetter (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • opening sentence
    Mark Sanford Granovetter (; born October 20, 1943) is an American sociologist and professor at Stanford University.
  • opening paragraph
    He is best known for his work in social network theory and in economic sociology, particularly his theory on the spread of information in social networks known as The Strength of Weak Ties (1973).
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