Jon Elster (Ph.D., University of Paris, 1972) Before coming to Columbia University, he taught at Paris, Oslo and Chicago. His publications include Ulysses and the Sirens (1979), Sour Grapes (1983), Making Sense of Marx (1985), The Cement of Society (1989), Solomonic Judgements (1989), Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences (1989), Local Justice (1992), Political Psychology (1993), Alchemies of the Mind (1999), Ulysses Unbound (2000) and Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective (2004). His research interests include the theory of rational choice, the theory of distributive justice and the history of social thought (Marx and Tocqueville). He is currently working on a comparative study of constitution-making processes from the Federal Convention to the present, besides being engaged in a project on the microfoundations of civil war.

Research Interests: Constitution-Making, Theory of Rational Choice, History of Political Thought (Tocqueville and Marx), Empirical Studies of Justice, Emotions and Social Theory.

Professor Elster is on leave for the 2009-2010 academic year.