ProfessorKaren Anderson

Karen M. Anderson received her PhD in political science from the University of Washington (Seattle) and has held positions at universities in the Netherlands and Great Britain. Her research focuses on comparative social policy development, financialization and non-state social policy, and the impact of Europeanization on national welfare states. 

She is the author of Social Policy in the European Union (Palgrave, 2015); the co-editor (with Ellen M. Immergut, Camilla Devitt and Tamara Popic) of Health Politics in Europe: A Handbook (Oxford University Press, 2021); and co-editor (with Ellen M. Immergut and Isabelle Schulze) of the Handbook of West European Pension Politics (Oxford University Press, 2007). Her research has also appeared in Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, Zeitschrift für Sozialreform, West European Politics, Canadian Journal of Sociology, Journal for Labour Market Research, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Public Administration and Development, Journal of European Public Policy, and the Journal of Public Policy.

Karen is a member of the editorial board of Comparative Political Studies (since 2024). She also served on the editorial boards of Journal of European Social Policy (2008 - 2025) and Journal for Labour Market Research (2008 - 2021).

Karen serves/has served on several scientific advisory boards in Germany and has participated in research funding evaluation panels for the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet), the Research Council of Finland, German Research Association (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), Netherlands Science Organisation (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) and the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR). 

Karen received funding from NORFACE's 'Governance' program for a four-country team project on the democratic governance of funded pension schemes. She is the Project Leader and PI for the Irish team. The project runs for three years (10/2020 - 12/2023). She has also been awarded research grants from the Hans Boeckler Foundation (2021-2023), the NORFACE 'Welfare State Futures' programme (2015-2018), The Gak Foundation in the Netherlands (2011-2014), the European Union (Fifth Framework, 2002), and Netspar (Network for Studies on Pensions, Aging and Retirement).

Karen is active in several international scholarly organisations:
• elected chairperson of the Council for European Studies (2021- June 24). She was elected to the Executive Committee in 2016 and served on the annual conference program committees for Glasgow (2017), Chicago (2018), Madrid (2019) and Reykjavik (2020), as well as the 2021 virtual conference.
• chairperson of the International Committee for the American Political Science Association (2017/18); member 2015/16.
• member of the Executive Committee of the Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association (2018-2020).
• division co-chair for the Comparative Politics Section of the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting (2019).