Barbara Czarniawska was born 2 December 1948 in Bialystok, Poland, where her family moved from Vilnius after the World War II. She is a Swedish citizen since 26 August 1988, and holds MA in Social and Industrial Psychology, Warsaw University, 1970; Ph.D.in Economic Sciences, Warsaw School of Economics, 1976; Doctor honoris causa at Stockholm School of Economics, 2005; Copenhagen Business School, 2006; Helsinki School of Economics, 2006.
She is a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Royal Engineering Academy, the Royal Society of Art and Sciences in Gothenburg, and Societas Scientiarum Finnica. In 2000, she received Lily and Sven Thuréus Technical-Economic Award for internationally renowned research in organization theory; and in 2003, Wihuri International Prize "in recognition of creative work that has specially furthered and developed the cultural and economic progress of mankind".
In her studies, Czarniawska applies a constructivist perspective on organizing, with the focus on action nets. Her methodological interests concern fieldwork techniques and the narrative approach in social science studies. She writes in Polish, English, Swedish and Italian. Her texts have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, Danish, German, and Russian.
At present, she is a Senior Professor of Management Studies at Gothenburg Research Institute, School of Business, Economics and Law at University of Gothenburg, Sweden; a Titular Professor at the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, Brussels. EIASM has also awarded her the 1st Interdisciplinary Leader Award in 2017.
