Philip Balsiger

Philip Balsiger serves as an Ordinary Professor at the Institute of Sociology within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Neuchâtel. His academic work centers on economic sociology and social movements, specifically examining contestation processes in markets and the moral dimensions of economic practices.

His research focuses on two interconnected domains:

• Morality and Markets: Investigating market moralization through ethical consumption, impact investing, and social movement challenges to corporate power. This includes studying organic/local products, moral struggles in markets, and sustainable consumption practices.
• Digital Economy Transformations: Analyzing regulatory struggles and market reorganization driven by digital platforms, particularly in the Swiss hotel industry and broader service sectors.

Current projects include a 2024-2028 study of consumer cooperatives across Switzerland, France, and Germany to assess consumer democracy's transformative potential, and a completed 2019-2023 analysis of Geneva's impact investing ecosystem.

Recent publications (2021-2025) demonstrate consistent thematic focus on moral justifications in finance and platform power dynamics. His work employs qualitative methods to dissect how professionals translate social impact into market value and how consumers navigate ethical dilemmas within capitalist frameworks.

No scientific awards are documented in the source material.

Professor Balsiger's leadership of multi-year research projects indicates successful grant acquisition and mentorship of graduate researchers. His international collaborations, particularly in comparative studies of consumer cooperatives and platform economies, demonstrate active engagement with cross-border academic teams despite no dedicated laboratory structure being mentioned.