Claus Offe

Claus Offe (16 March 1940 – 1 October 2025) was a German political sociologist associated with the Frankfurt School who taught at universities in Germany and the United States, with a focus on political economic analysis. He found new perspectives for a wide range of topics such as analysis of social crises, the welfare state, the transformation of Eastern Europe and European integration, unconditional basic income, civil society and the common good. Offe was a founding member of the Greens and of the Hertie School.