He received a PhD in sociology from Boston College (1978); he also holds a law degree ("juris kandidat") from Stockholm University (1970).
So far he has produced a monograph on theory, with practical instructions for how to theorize (The Art of Social Theory, Princeton University Press, 2014) and an anthology (Theorizing in the Social Sciences: The Context of Discovery, Stanford University Press, 2014).
Swedberg is also the co-author, together with Peter Hedstrom, of Social Mechanisms (1998, Cambridge University Press).
His edited work includes The Economics and Sociology of Capitalism,[1] Handbook of Economic Sociology (with Neil Smelser) (1994, 2005, Russell Sage Foundation & Princeton University Press) and Sociology of Economic Life (with Mark Granovetter (1992, 2001, 2011, Westview).
On 29 January 2016 Swedberg received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Uppsala University for his insights in "how useful the work of classical thinkers can be in understanding contemporary society".