Dr Mark Fabian
Dr Mark Fabian
Mark Fabian is Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the University of Warwick, and an Affiliate Fellow at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. He was previously a Fulbright Scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the Australian National University, where he completed his PhD in philosophy, politics, and economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy.
Mark’s research explores the subject of wellbeing from an interdisciplinary perspective. He is the author of numerous academic articles for leading journals across multiple disciplines, including Perspectives on Psychological Science, Journal of European Public Policy, Philosophical Psychology, The European Journal for the Philosophy of Science, and the Journal of Happiness Studies. His first academic book, A Theory of Subjective Wellbeing, was published in 2022 by Oxford University Press, and he also edited the academic volume Hybrid Public Policy Innovations (Routledge, 2018).
Mark is passionate about teaching and has crafted multiple university courses aimed at helping humanities and social science students transition to public policy research. He has been nominated for several teaching awards, and hosts a regular podcast, ePODstemology, which showcases the ideas and opinions of early career researchers (epodstemology.buzzsprout.com).
Born in Sydney, Australia, Mark lives in London.
Books
Beyond Happy: How to Rethink Happiness and Find Fulfilment
Rights
Synopsis
A comprehensive guide to cultivating wellbeing, combining cutting edge science and primordial folk wisdom.
Mark Fabian, one of the most exhilarating thinkers working on wellbeing today, presents a revolutionary approach to understanding why there’s more to life than the pursuit of happiness.
Beyond Happy explores how evolution has wired us to keep happiness just out of reach, leaving us perpetually stuck on a happiness treadmill. Instead of striving to escape it, the book argues, we should focus on making the treadmill a place we want to be. Finding this wellbeing begins with listening to our emotions, discovering intrinsic motivation and pursuing our authentic values. Fabian coaches you through this process of self-actualisation. Wellbeing, however, is not solely an individual pursuit – it is something we cultivate together. And so Beyond Happy also provides insights into enhancing your emotional intelligence, building relationships on care, and nurturing a karmic community.
Most profoundly, Beyond Happy shows the way out of nihilism – the pervasive sense that life on the treadmill is purposeless and incoherent. To escape this despair, we must develop a moral compass. To heal the toxicity of our acrimonious politics, we need to rediscover the joy of sharing and celebrating what we love.
Delivered with an entertaining mix of academic precision, a podcaster’s knack for storytelling, and the down-to-earth panache Australians are known for, Beyond Happy is a one-stop shop to everything you need to know about the good life.
