Marcel van den Haak is a cultural sociologist. He works as a lecturer within the Bachelor Cultuurwetenschappen (Cultural Studies) and the Master track Kunst, Cultuur en Politiek (Art, Culture and Politics).

In 2014, he defended his PhD thesis at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR), on the practices and perceptions of cultural hierarchy in the Netherlands, based on in-depth interviews with ninety diverse citizens about their cultural taste. Lately, he studies the recent increase of ethical, moral and political art critique (including film, literature, etc.), which is believed to collide with ideas on the autonomy of art and the primacy of aesthetic judgements and which is often being labelled as ‘cancel culture’. Within the domain of arts and culture, he is also interested in cultural policy (particularly DEI policies) and art education.

In a broader sense, he is interested in the symbolic boundaries that people draw between themselves and others. Finally, he is engaged in qualitative research methods, particularly on why and how people change their (political) opinion.