Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim is a sociologist, psychologist and philosopher. She taught sociology at the University of Hamburg (1993–1994) and at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (1994–2009); she was a guest lecturer at the University of Trondheim (2009–2012), and since 2013 she works at the University of Munich. Her main research interest is in social changes and the changing situation of the institution of the family (globalization, development of alternative family forms and lifestyles, new reproductive technologies etc.). She also focuses on the processes of individualization. Among her well-known studies are: The Normal Chaos of Love (with Ulrich Beck, Polity Press/Blackwell, 1995 [1990]), The Social Implications of Bioengineering (Humanities Press, 1995), Reinventing the Family: In Search of New Lifestyles (Polity Press/Blackwell, 2002 [1998]), Individualization (with U. Beck, Sage Publications, 2002), Distant Love: Personal Life in the Global Age (with U. Beck, Polity Press, 2014 [2011]).
