Céline Bessière

Céline Bessière is a Professor of Sociology at Paris-Dauphine University (PSL University) and member of the IRISSO laboratory. Her research focuses on the economic and legal dimensions of family dynamics, particularly gender inequalities in wealth accumulation across Europe.

• Senior member of Institut Universitaire de France
• Co-author of The Gender of Capital (Harvard University Press, 2023)
• Currently coordinating international special issues on family wealth in Socio-Economic Review and British Journal of Sociology

Research spans family businesses, marital separations, inheritance practices, and gendered power dynamics in legal settings. Key contributions include analysis of how class society is reproduced through male capital appropriation and gendered financial systems.

She has held visiting positions at the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton), Humboldt University, New York University, and Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Her Gender of Capital book was adapted into a comic by Delcourt/La Découverte in 2023.

• Scientific awards include Fellowships at IAS Princeton and Humboldt University
• Recent work examines family wealth gaps through mixed-methods approaches
• Active in international collaborations across France, UK, US, and South America