Eva Illouz is Directrice d’Etudes at the EHESS, a member of the Center of Rationality at Hebrew University and holds the Rose Isaac Chair in Sociology at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Van Leer Institute and visiting professor at the Wissenschaftzentrum, in Berlin. She is a past President of the Bezalel Academy of Arts.
Her research interests include sociology of culture, sociology of emotions, sociology of capitalism, and the effect of consumerism and mass media on emotional patterns. Illouz is the author of 15 books about diverse topics as romantic love, Oprah Winfrey, culture, capitalism and the crystallization of the psychological culture during the 20th century, the industry of happiness, and the impact of modernity on emotions. She was a member of the WissenshaftKolleg in Berlin and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton. Her books have won numerous international awards and have been translated into 25 languages. She received three Best Book Awards from the American Sociological Association, the Annaliese Maier International Award for Excellence in research, the EMET prize in Israel for lifetime achievement as well as the French Legion d’Honneur for her contribution to French culture. In addition to her scholarly work, she writes for Le Monde, Der Spiegel, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Der Freitag, Die Zeit and Ha’aretz on various subjects such as literature, politics and social affairs.