The discoverer of the importance of the network of acquaintances, winner of the Fronteras Prize

Mark Granovetter.

DV Saint Sebastian.

Thursday, April 7, 2022, 07:52

Yesterday, sociologist Mark Granovetter was awarded the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Social Sciences for discovering the economic and social importance of the network of acquaintances. His article ‘The Strength of Weak Ties’, published in 1973 in ‘The American Journal of Sociology’, is the most cited work in the social sciences, with more than 65,000 citations.

With a degree in History from Princeton University and a doctorate in Sociology from Harvard, Mark Granovetter (Jersey City, 1943) warns in his book ‘Getting a job’ (Finding a job) of the fewest opportunities for those who “do not have the necessary connections » and stresses the importance of labor mobility.