Walter Korpi (Koutojärvi, Sweden, 1934 ) is a Swedish sociologist. Together with the Swedish politician and sociologist Joakim Palme, they wrote "The Paradox of Redistribution and Strategies of Equality".^[1] There are some detractors about its principles.^[2][3]

He entered Stockholm University in 1958 and received a degree in philosophy from Stockholm University four years later. He also studied at the University of Colorado at Boulder between 1955 and 1956.

From 1959 to 1964 he worked as a sociologist at the Militärpsykologiska institutet (Institute of Military Psychology) and from 1965 to 1966 at the Swedish Metalworkers Union. He then worked as an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Stockholm University (1966-1968). He then worked as a professor of sociology at Umeå University until 1969 until he returned to the previous university as a professor of sociology until 1972. Since 1972 he became a professor of social policy and continues to do so until then.

At the beginning, als anys siixanta, Korpi who was at the Institute of Military Psychology is going to focus above all on the attitudes and the welfare of the exèrcit. The publication Social Pressures and Attitudes in Military Training stands out, the thesis that is going to present what it is worth to license in 1962 in sociology. From the anys setanta, it is going to focus mainly on labor disputes and classes and, to a lesser extent, assistance research.

• The Paradox of Redistribution and Strategies of Equality: Welfare State Institutions, Inequality and Poverty in the Western Countries ”(with Joakim Palme). American Sociological Review, 63 (661-687), 1998
• The Working Class in Welfare Capitalism. Work, Unions and Politics in Sweden. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978.
• Korpi, W. (1980) 'Social Policy and Distributional Conflict in the Capitalist Democracies. A Preliminary Comparative Framework ', West European Politics, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 296-316.

Some of the most outstanding awards or recognitions:

• 1978 C. Wright Mills Award for The Working Class in Welfare Capitalism: Work, Unions and Politics in Sweden
• 1990 Statistical Award from the Swedish Statistical Association for the article Sweden is left behind? The economic growth of Suencia 1820-1990 in a comparative perspective. (originally, in Swedish; Halkar Sverige efter? Sveriges ekonomiska tillväxt 18201990 and jämförande belysning
• Doctor Honoris Causa 2000 from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Turku, Finland .