Born: 1951
B.A. in Social Science, University of Iceland 1976
Mag.Scient.Soc in Sociology University of Copenhagen 1981
PhD University of Copenhagen 1991
Assistant professor and scholar at University of Copenhagen 1981.87
Project researcher and writer in Reykjavik 1987-94
Associate professor at University of Iceland 1994-2002
Visiting professor at Danish University of Education since 2002
Chairman of Nordic Summer University 1994&1995, board member in Nordic Sociological Association 1995-1999, main editor of YOUNG – Nordic Journal of Youth Research since 1998, member of expert consultation group for the European Commission White Paper on Youth Policy 2001-2002.
Main research area: youth and sociological theory. Subareas: vocational education, youth culture, youth unemployment, youth work, cultural policy, marginalised youth

Selected publications:

Ungdomskultur som overgang til lønarbejde, [Youth Culture as Transition to Wage Labour. Ph.D thesis] Copenhagen: Forlaget Sociologi, 1992.

The Changing Role of Vocational and Technical Education and Training (VOTEC) in Iceland, the Icelandic Contribution. Report from the Ministery of Education in Iceland to OECD 1993.

'Old Wine in New Bottles: The Concepts of Competence & Qualification' in: Kettunen, Pauli, et al. (eds): The Global Redefining of Working Life - A New Nordic Agenda for Competence and Participation? Copenhagen: The Nordic Council of Ministers, Nord 1998:12, pp. 173-222

'To find your voice in a foreign language - Authenticity and reflexivity in the anglocentric world of rock' YOUNG 7:2, 1999, pp. 43-61.

'Youth Research at the Crossroads. Sociological and interdisciplinary youth research in the Nordic countries' Journal of Youth Studies 3:2, 2000 pp. 127-146.

[With Ulf Lindberg, Morten Michelsen & Hans Weisethaunet] Amusers, Bruisers and Cool-headed Cruisers, Aarhus: Institute of Scandinavian Studies, 2000.

‘Mediators and change agents. Youth and centre/periphery relations in coastal Iceland in 20th century. YOUNG - Nordic Journal of Youth Research 10:3/4, 2002 pp 108-127.

’Cultural Policy in Iceland' in Peter Duelund (ed.) The Nordic Cultural Model. Århus: Klim 2003: 113-146

Forholdet mellem teoretisk og empirisk arbejde i pædagogisk sociology. Refleksive kompetencer og kulturel kapital under forandring [Theoretical and Empirical Work within Educational Sociology. Reflexive competences and cultural capital undergoing changes] in Inge Bryderup (ed) Educational Sociology [Working title] Copenhagen: Danish University of Education 2003 [forthcoming]