Robert Perkinson is an American historian and Professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He is the author of '' Texas Tough: The Rise of a Prison Empire'' (2010) which received the 2011

PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award The PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for nonfiction is awarded by PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) biennially "to a distinguished book of general nonfiction possessing notable literary merit and critical perspective and illuminating import ...

Education and academic career

Perkinson attended

Jackson Hole High School Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

in Jackson, Wyoming and graduated with honors in 1987. Between 1985 and 1986, he participated in International Student Exchange at the Colegio Concepcion in Concepcion, Chile. At the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

, Perkinson received his Bachelor of Arts with honors in History, with a minor in Ethnic Studies in 1994. He attended

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and earned his Master of Arts and Ph.D. in American Studies, where he also co-founded the Student Legal Action Movement. His dissertation is title
The Birth of the Texas Prison Empire, 1865-1915
He also served as a political columnist for the

Boulder Weekly ''Boulder Weekly'' is an alternative newsweekly that publishes every Thursday in Boulder, Colorado. The paper is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) and is owned and published by Stewart Sallo. Overview Following the L ...

and editorial assistant fo
Critical Asian Studies
in Boulder, Colorado. Perkinson joined the American Studies department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2001. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in areas such as crime and punishment, Southern and Western history, race and class, and American empire. His book, Texas Tough, addresses the history of American punishment, race, economy, and politics in the United States, with an emphasis on Texas—the most locked down state in the United States. The book was reviewed in many publications including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'', ''

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, ana ...

'', and ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''. In 2014, he was involved with the State of Hawai‘i's and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s efforts to host the

Obama Presidential Center The Barack Obama Presidential Center is a planned architectural project in Chicago to commemorate the presidency of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. The center will include a museum and library and is headed by the nonprofi ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Awards and honors

In 2011, his book ''Texas Tough'' was awarded the

for nonfiction. November 11, 2011 was officially declared "Robert Perkinson day" in the state of Hawai'i by governor Neil Abercrombie and lieutenant governor

Brian Schatz Brian Emanuel Schatz (; born October 20, 1972) is an American educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Hawaii, a seat he has held since 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, Schatz served in the Hawaii House o ...

Recent Publications

"Rick Perry, Criminal Justice Reformer?"
''

''. 17 September 2011
"Nightmares of My Grandfather."
''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

.'' 26 May 2010
"The 'Jim Crow' Injustice of Crack Cocaine Continues."
'' The Root.'' 13 May 2010
"‘Hell Exploded’: Prisoner Music and Memoir and the Fall of Convict Leasing in Texas."
''

Prison Journal ''The Prison Journal'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes papers in the field of Criminology. The journal's editor is Rosemary L. Gido (Indiana University of Pennsylvania). It has been in publication since 1921 and is currently ...

.'' 89, no. 1, March 2009
"The Prison Dilemma: Getting Past the Punitive Turn."
''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

.'' 6 July 2009
"American Race Relations in the Age of Obama."
''Journal of English and American Studies'' (South Korea). 7, December 2008
"Guarded Hope: Lessons from the History of the Prison Boom."
'' Boston Review''. July/August 2008 *"Angola and the Agony of Prison Reform." ''

Radical Philosophy Review The ''Radical Philosophy Review'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal sponsored by the Radical Philosophy Association. It was established in 1998 and all issues are available online. The journal is published by the Philosophy Documentation Center. ...

.'' 3, no. 1 (2000) *"'Between the Worst of the Past and the Worst of the Future': Reconsidering Convict Leasing in the South" (review) ''

Radical History Review ''Radical History Review'' is a scholarly journal published by Duke University Press. The journal describes its position as "at the point where rigorous historical scholarship and active political engagement converge".

'' 71 (Spring 1998) *"Adjusting the World Bank."
Critical Asian Studies
' (formerly, '' Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars)''. 27, no. 3 (October–December 1995) *"Introduction to the Korean Nuclear Crisis."
Critical Asian Studies
'' 26, nos. 1–2 (January–June 1994)

External links

Big Think interviewC-SPAN interviewOpen Society Foundations interviewUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Department of American Studies bio

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkinson, Robert Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty