Virág Molnár

Virág Molnár serves as Associate Professor of Sociology at The New School for Social Research, where she investigates intersections of culture, politics, and urban transformation with emphasis on Eastern Europe. Her work bridges theoretical frameworks in cultural and political sociology through empirical studies of built environments and symbolic practices.

Education:

• PhD in Sociology, Princeton University (2005)

Research Focus: Molnár's scholarship centers on urban culture, material politics, and nationalist discourse. She examines how architecture, street art, and everyday objects become vehicles for state formation and identity politics, particularly in postsocialist contexts. Her comparative approach spans Berlin, Budapest, and New York, revealing how cultural production shapes political landscapes and public spheres through material-semiotic practices.

Publication Trends: Recent work demonstrates consistent thematic evolution from state-building architectures (2013) toward contemporary populist material culture. Her publications increasingly analyze objects as political resources—from face masks during pandemics to street art commodification—highlighting how mundane items acquire symbolic power in nationalist movements and urban neoliberalism.

Scientific Recognition:

• Mary Douglas Prize for Best Book (ASA, 2014)
• Berlin Prize/Axel Springer Fellowship (American Academy in Berlin, 2017)
• ACLS Fellowship (2016)
• Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2011)
• Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (2006)

Research Support: Major funding from the National Science Foundation, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and European Commission has enabled longitudinal studies on postsocialist urbanism. Current projects include comparative analysis of street art economies across New York-Berlin-Budapest and ethnographic investigation of urban rodent control politics, demonstrating sustained commitment to material-cultural approaches in urban sociology.