[1] Steger is most known for his work in social and political theory, primarily focusing on the crucial role of ideas, images, language, beliefs, and other symbolic systems in shaping discourses of globalization.
[2] Steger is the recipient of the 2003 Michael Harrington Book Award from the American Political Science Association.
Steger was born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria and left his country in 1986 to study in the United States.
The scholar Teresa Walker states that "Manfred Steger’s critical theory of globalization links the deliberative intent of ideology with the nuts and bolts of economic processes.
"[14] In 2019, Palgrave Macmillan published a Festschrift on Steger's work, titled Revisiting the Global Imaginary.
"[15] In 1981, Steger initiated his Zen training in Austria under Genro Koudela at the Bodhidharma Zendo in Vienna, which was associated with Joshu Sasaki's Rinzai-ji Order in California.
Later, in 1986, he continued his training with Robert Baker Aitken at the Diamond Sangha in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he completed his formal koan practice.