Abram de Swaan (; born 8 January 1942) is a Dutch essayist, sociologist and professor emeritus from the University of Amsterdam.
In 1996, he became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was elected a member of the Academia Europaea in 2000.
He developed the concept of a global language system.
He received the P. C. Hooft Award in 2008.
Bibliography
Books in Dutch
Amerika in termijnen (1968) Halverwege de Heilstaat (essays; 1983) Zorg en de Staat (1989) Perron Nederland (1991) Moord en de staat (2003) Tegen de vrouwen (2019)
Books in English
In Care of the State (1988) The Management of Normality (1990) Words of the World (2001) The Killing Compartments (2015)