Suzanne Berger
Encyclopedia
Suzanne Berger is an American political scientist. She is the Raphael Dorman and Helen Starbuck Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) and director of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiative. A leading authority in comparative politics
and political economy
, she has pointed to the centrality of politics in mediating and redirecting ostensibly transcendent forces, such as economic modernization and globalization
.
She attended Antioch College
for two years before transferring to the University of Chicago
where she received her B.A. with honors in 1960. She then studied at Harvard University
where she received both an M.A. and Ph.D.
In How We Compete, based on a five-year study by the MIT Industrial Performance Center, she presents the result of case studies of over 500 international companies to discover which practices are succeeding in today’s global economy, which are failing, and why. She paints a far more complicated picture than the black-and-white presentations by most promoters and opponents of globalization. Cheap labor is not the answer, offshoring
is not a fatality, and the avenues open to companies are much wider than is generally imagined.
Berger was a member of the MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity, whose report, Made in America, analyzed weaknesses and strengths in U.S. industry in the 1980s. She is also a Research Associate and member of the Committee of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University.
She served as Vice President of the American Political Science Association
and as founding Chair of the Social Science Research Council
Joint Committee on Western Europe
. She is the former chair of the Political Science
department at MIT. In addition to heading the MIT International Science and Technology Initiative, she is also the founder and director of the MIT-France Program there.
Berger was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1978. She is also a chevalier of France's Légion d'Honneur
.
She is also a member of the board of directors of BNP Paribas
.
She lives in Boston
, Massachusetts
.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT) and director of the MIT International Science and Technology Initiative. A leading authority in comparative politics
Comparative politics
Comparative politics is a subfield of political science, characterized by an empirical approach based on the comparative method. Arend Lijphart argues that comparative politics does not have a substantive focus in itself, but rather a methodological one: it focuses on "the how but does not specify...
and political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
, she has pointed to the centrality of politics in mediating and redirecting ostensibly transcendent forces, such as economic modernization and globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
.
She attended Antioch College
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
for two years before transferring to the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
where she received her B.A. with honors in 1960. She then studied at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
where she received both an M.A. and Ph.D.
In How We Compete, based on a five-year study by the MIT Industrial Performance Center, she presents the result of case studies of over 500 international companies to discover which practices are succeeding in today’s global economy, which are failing, and why. She paints a far more complicated picture than the black-and-white presentations by most promoters and opponents of globalization. Cheap labor is not the answer, offshoring
Offshoring
Offshoring describes the relocation by a company of a business process from one country to another—typically an operational process, such as manufacturing, or supporting processes, such as accounting. Even state governments employ offshoring...
is not a fatality, and the avenues open to companies are much wider than is generally imagined.
Berger was a member of the MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity, whose report, Made in America, analyzed weaknesses and strengths in U.S. industry in the 1980s. She is also a Research Associate and member of the Committee of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University.
She served as Vice President of the American Political Science Association
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903, it publishes three academic journals...
and as founding Chair of the Social Science Research Council
Social Science Research Council
The Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...
Joint Committee on Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
. She is the former chair of the Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
department at MIT. In addition to heading the MIT International Science and Technology Initiative, she is also the founder and director of the MIT-France Program there.
Berger was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1978. She is also a chevalier of France's Légion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
.
She is also a member of the board of directors of BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas S.A. is a global banking group, headquartered in Paris, with its second global headquarters in London. In October 2010 BNP Paribas was ranked by Bloomberg and Forbes as the largest bank and largest company in the world by assets with over $3.1 trillion. It was formed through the merger...
.
She lives in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Works
- Peasants Against Politics: Rural Organization in Brittany, 1911-1967. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University PressHarvard University PressHarvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
, 1972- French updated version: Les Paysans contre la politique. Paris: Seuil, 1975
- The French Political System. New York: Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, 1974 - The Utilization of the Social Sciences in Policy Making in the United States (editor). Paris: OECD, 1980
- Dualism and Discontinuity in Industrial Societies (with Michael Piore). New York: Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 1980- Italian version: Dualismo economico e politica nelle società industriali. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1982
- Organizing Interests in Western Europe (editor, with introductory chapter and one other chapter). New York: Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 1981- Italian version: L’organizzazione degli interessi nell’Europa occidentale. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1983
- Spanish version: La organización de los grupos de interés en Europa Occidental. Madrid: Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguiridad Social, 1988
- Religion and Politics in Western Europe (editor). London: Frank Cass, 1982
- Made in America: Regaining the Productive Edge, (coauthor). Cambridge, MA, MIT PressMIT PressThe MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts .-History:...
, 1989 - National Diversity and Global Capitalism (editor, with Ronald Dore). Ithaca: Cornell University PressCornell University PressThe Cornell University Press, established in 1869 but inactive from 1884 to 1930, was the first university publishing enterprise in the United States.A division of Cornell University, it is housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage....
, 1996- Italian version with new introduction: Differenze nazionali e capitalismo globale (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1998)
- Made by Hong Kong (with Richard K. LesterRichard K. LesterRichard K. Lester is Professor of Nuclear Engineering and head of the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the founding Director of the MIT Industrial Performance Center.- Education :...
), Hong Kong: Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 1997 - Notre Première Mondialisation: Leçons d’un échec oublié, Paris: Seuil, 2003, ISBN 2020579219
- Global Taiwan (editor, with Richard K. LesterRichard K. LesterRichard K. Lester is Professor of Nuclear Engineering and head of the Nuclear Science and Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the founding Director of the MIT Industrial Performance Center.- Education :...
), M.E. Sharpe, 2005 - How We Compete: What Companies Around the World Are Doing to Make It in the Global Economy. New York: Doubleday, 2005
- French version with new foreword: Made in Monde (Paris, Seuil, 2006), ISBN 2020852969