- published: 14 Mar 2015
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Saskia Sassen (born in The Hague, January 5, 1949) is a Dutch-American sociologist noted for her analyses of globalization and international human migration. She currently is Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University and Centennial visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. Sassen coined the term global city. She is married to the sociologist Richard Sennett.
Sassen grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where her parents Willem Sassen and Miep van der Voort moved in 1950. She also spent a part of her youth in Italy and says she was "brought up in five languages."
From 1966, Sassen spent a year each at the Université de Poitiers, France, the Università degli Studi di Roma, and the Universidad de Buenos Aires, for studies in philosophy and political science. From 1969, Sassen studied sociology and economics at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, where she obtained M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in 1971 and 1974, respectively. In addition, she obtained a French master's degree in philosophy in Poitiers in 1974. In January 2004, Sassen received the honoris causa degree in urbanism at Delft University of Technology.