Career
He is Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford (formerly Green College, Oxford). Ringen holds a magister degree in political science (a 7-year degree including 3 years of research) from the University of Oslo (1972) and a doctor philosophical degree from the University of Oslo (1987). He has been a Visiting Professor at Université de Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne (1995, 1996), École Normale Supérieure de Cachan (1996-1997), Masaryk University (2003), Charles University (2003), University of the West Indies (2004, 2006) and Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (2006).
He has written several books in Norwegian and English.
He is also a regular contributor to Norwegian public debate.