Social Sciences with a Focus on Economic Education
Raum
Brieffach
Adresse
Köln
Sprechstunde
After completing vocational training and working as a skilled worker in machine tool manufacturing, Ralf Ptak studied economics and social economics at the University of Hamburg. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Hamburg in 2002 with a dissertation titled: “From Ordoliberalism to the Social Market Economy: Stages of Neoliberalism in Germany”; Reviewers: Herbert Schui, Werner Goldschmidt, and Werner Abelshauser (University of Bielefeld); graded summa cum laude and awarded a prize for exceptional academic achievement. Habilitation in 2011 at the University of Cologne: Cumulative habilitation thesis: “Self-Regulation as Dogma: Contributions to the Political Economy of the Market, the State, and Society”; Reviewers: Birgit Weber, Christoph Butterwegge, and Karl-Georg Zinn (University of Aachen). Venia legendi: “Social Sciences with a Focus on Economics and Economic Education.” Appointed as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Cologne in 2017. He has been retired since 2026.
Main Areas of Research
- History of economic theory, with a focus on: the genesis of neoliberalism in Germany, particularly ordoliberalism; the social market economy as a concept and narrative, as well as its actual implementation in economic policy. Biographical works on Walter Eucken, Wilhelm Röpke, Alfred Müller-Armack, Leonhard Miksch, and Ludwig Erhard.
- Analysis and critique of the theory and practice of market-based regulation of social processes, particularly in the areas of education, climate, and public services.
- Economic and social policies of the far right—historically and currently, particularly with regard to Germany and the United States. Interdependencies between economic crises and the far right.
Memberships
- Working Group on Alternative Economic Policy (Memorandum Group)
- Network for Pluralist Economics
- Industrial Union of Metalworkers
- Reviewer for various academic publishers and journals
Publications since 2016
Articles and Books
Ptak, Ralf, with Thomas Biebricher (2026/27, forthcoming): An Introduction to the Social Market Economy and Ordoliberalism, 2nd revised edition, Hamburg: Junius
Ptak, Ralf, 2026 (forthcoming): The Rise of the Far Right—An (Primarily) Economic Perspective, in: Jörg Flecker, Elke Gaugele, Georg Gläser, Gudrun Hentges, Ruth Wodak (eds.), Handbook of Right-Wing Populism; Berlin: Springer Nature (approx. 25 pages)
Ptak, Ralf (2026, forthcoming): “Social Market Economy,” in: Dieter Plehwe, Hagen Schulz-Forberg, Isabel Oakes (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Neoliberalism, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd (about 15 pages)
Ptak, Ralf (2026, forthcoming): “Ordoliberalism,” in: Dieter Plehwe, Hagen Schulz-Forberg, Isabel Oakes (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Neoliberalism, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd (about 15 pages)
Ptak, Ralf (2022): Historical Context of Theoretical Formation: Weimar Democracy, the Global Economic Crisis, and the Rise of National Socialism, in: Thomas Biebricher, Werner Bonefeld, Peter Nedergaard (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Ordoliberalism, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 21–39
Ptak, Ralf (2022): Alfred Müller-Armack: The ‘State Idea’ and the Economic Order – Metamorphoses from 1932 to 1978, *The Oxford Handbook of Ordoliberalism*, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 150–165
Ptak, Ralf (2022): Leonhard Misch: “Competition as a Task” in Science, Journalism, and Politics, in: The Oxford Handbook of Ordoliberalism, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, pp. 168–178
Ptak, Ralf with Thomas Biebricher (2021): An Introduction to the Social Market Economy and Ordoliberalism, special edition for the Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn: bpb
Ptak, Ralf with Thomas Biebricher (2020): An Introduction to the Social Market Economy and Ordoliberalism, Hamburg: Junius
Ptak, Ralf (2020): An Outline of the Historical Impact of Ordoliberalism, in: Stephan Pühringer et al. (eds.), Beyond Conventions: Alternative Thinking on Economics, Society, and Politics. A Festschrift for Walter O. Ötsch, Marburg: Metropolis, pp. 259–280
Ptak, Ralf with Claudia von Braunmühl, Heide Gerstenberger, and Christa Wichterich (2019), in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, TAZ, and the Scientific Advisory Board of attac; ABC of Global Disorder, Hamburg: VSA
Ptak, Ralf (2019): How Is Digitalization Changing Work and the Economy? An Assessment, in Björn Görder, Julian Zeyher-Quattlender (eds.), Data as a Raw Material, LLG Series, Vol. 40, Münster: Lit Verlag, pp. 107–132
Ptak, Ralf (2018): Origins and Ambivalences of the Social Market Economy, in: EPD Documentation (KDA and Evangelical Academy of the North Church), The Church in Capitalism: Between Adaptation and Shaping—70 Years of the Social Market Economy in West Germany, Frankfurt am Main: GEP, pp. 21–33
Ptak, Ralf (2018): From Criticism of Economism to Permanent Economization: A Socioeconomic Analysis with a Focus on the School System, in: Sigrid Hartong / Björn Hermstein / Thomas Höhne (eds.), The Economization of Schools—Approaches, Controversies, and Empirical Case Studies, Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 39–61
Ptak, Ralf (2018): Ménage-à-trois: Neoliberalism, Crisis, and Right-Wing Populism, in: Alexander Häusler / Helmut Kellershohn (eds.): The Face of Ethno-Populism. Perspectives on “Critical Research on Right-Wing Extremism,” Münster: Unrast-Verlag, pp. 20–37
Ptak, Ralf (2018): Neoliberalism Casts Out Its Children: Crisis(es) and Right-Wing Populism, in: Christoph Butterwegge/Gudrun Hentges/Bettina Lösch (eds.), On the Way to a Different Republic? Neoliberalism, Local Nationalism, and Right-Wing Populism, Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 64–75
Ptak, Ralf (2017): Foundations of Neoliberalism, in: Christoph Butterwegge / Bettina Lösch / the same author, Critique of Neoliberalism, 3rd rev. ed., Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 13–78
Ptak, Ralf (2016): The Concept of the State in Ordoliberalism. A Historical-Theoretical Analysis with a Contemporary Outlook, in: Thomas Biebricher (ed.), The State of Neoliberalism, “Conceptions of the State” series, vol. 92, Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 31–73
Reviews and Articles
Ptak, Ralf (2025): The AfD’s Economic Policy Is Ethno-Neoliberal, in: Surplus, July 9, 2025 https://www.surplusmagazin.de/afd-wirtschaft-politik-neoliberal-voelkisch-wahl/
Ptak, Ralf (2025): Review of: Katharina Schmidt, Ludwig Erhard: The Miracle Worker. Myth, Self-Presentation, and Public Relations, Herbert von Halem Verlag, Cologne 2024, in: Archiv für Sozialgeschichte (online) 66, 2026, URL: <https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/afs/82110.pdf> [Nov. 20, 2025]
Ptak, Ralf (2024): Review of: Thomas Großbölting, *Alfred Müller-Armack—The Political Biography of an Economist*, Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 2023, in: Archiv für Sozialgeschichte (online) 64, 2024, URL: <https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/afs/81985.pdf> [April 9, 2024].
Ptak, Ralf (2018): No Plan by Wise Men. Uwe Fuhrmann Deconstructs the Legend of the Beginnings of the Social Market Economy, in: Ethics and Society 1/2018: file:///C:/Users/Ralf%20Ptak/Downloads/root,+EuG-1-2018-rez-4.pdf
Lectures in 2026
June 23, 2026
“Alfred Müller-Armack: Metamorphoses of a West German Icon”
Event organized by the AStA of the University of Cologne in collaboration with “Lecturers Against the Far Right” on the culture of historical remembrance in the face of the rise of the far right
January 29, 2026
“Beyond the Myth: A Reassessment of the Origins of the Social Market Economy” Seminar hosted by the ZSL Baden-Württemberg in Bad Wildbad on trends, tools, and topics for contemporary WBS instruction