Orlando Patterson

Orlando Patterson OM (born 5 June 1940) is a Jamaican-born American historical and cultural sociologist known for his work regarding issues of race in the United States, as well as the sociology of development. He is a professor at Harvard University. His book Freedom, Volume One, or Freedom in the Making of Western Culture (1991), won the U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction.[1]

Orlando Patterson
Orlando Patterson speaks at the New America Foundation's "Inequality and the Great Recession" event
Born (1940-06-05) 5 June 1940
Westmoreland, Jamaica
TitleJohn Cowles Chair in Sociology at Harvard University
Awards
Academic background
Education
Doctoral advisorDavid Glass
Academic work
DisciplineSociologist
InstitutionsHarvard University
Doctoral studentsMabel Berezin
Main interests
Notable worksFreedom in the Making of Western Culture (1991)

Early life and education

Patterson was born in Westmoreland, Jamaica, and grew up in Clarendon Parish in the small town of May Pen. He attended primary school there, then moved to Kingston to attend Kingston College. He went on to earn a BSc in Economics from the University of the West Indies, Mona, in 1962, and his Ph.D. in Sociology at the London School of Economics in 1965.[2] His dissertation adviser was David Glass.[3] He also wrote for the recently founded New Left Review, his first work being "The Essays of James Baldwin" in 1964.[4] While in London he was associated with the Caribbean Artists Movement, whose second meeting, in January 1967, was held at the Pattersons' North London flat.[5]

Career

Earlier in his career, Patterson was concerned with the economic and political development of his home country, Jamaica. He served as special advisor to Michael Manley, Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1972 to 1979.

Patterson is known for his work on the relationship between slavery and social death, which he has worked on extensively and written several books about.

Patterson has appeared on PBS and has been a guest columnist in The New York Times. A 2015 article in the latter, "The Real Problem With America’s Inner Cities," used the lens of developmental sociology to analyze recent protests and looting in West Baltimore.[6]

Patterson currently holds the John Cowles chair in Sociology at Harvard University.

In October 2015 he received the Gold Musgrave Medal in recognition of his contribution to literature.[7]In 2020 he was appointed a member of the Order of Merit, Jamaica's third-highest national honour.[8]

Professional associations

Awards

Selected bibliography

Academic
  • The Sociology of Slavery. 1967.
  • An Analysis of the Origins, Development and Structure of Negro Slave Society in Jamaica. 1968.
  • Ethnic Chauvinism: The Reactionary Impulse. 1977.
  • Slavery and Social Death. 1982.
  • Freedom in the Making of Western Culture. 1991. Later renamed Freedom, Vol. 1: Freedom in the Making of Western Culture — winner of National Book Award[1]
  • The Ordeal of Integration. 1997
  • Rituals of Blood: Consequences of Slavery in Two American Centuries. 1999.
  • Freedom: Freedom in the Modern World. 2006.
  • The Cultural Matrix: Understanding Black Youth (with Ethan Fosse). 2015.
  • The Confounding Island: Jamaica and the Postcolonial Predicament. 2019.

Fiction
  • The Children of Sisyphus (novel). 1965.
  • An Absence of Ruins (novel). 1967.
  • Die the Long Day (novel). 1972.

References
  1. "National Book Awards – 1991". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  2. Author information at Peepal Tree Press.
  3. Stoltz, Dustin (Fall 2018). "Four Questions for Orlando Patterson". Section Culture: Newsletter of the ASA Culture Section. 30 (3). Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  4. Patterson, H. Orlando (July–August 1964). "The Essays of James Baldwin". New Left Review. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  5. Walmsley, Anne (1992), The Caribbean Artists Movement, 1966-1972: A Literary and Cultural History, New Beacon Books, p. 51. ISBN 978-1873201060.
  6. Patterson, Orlando (9 May 2015). "The Real Problem in America's Inner Cities". The New York Times.
  7. "Gold for Sly and Robbie", Jamaica Gleaner, 30 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  8. Henry, Balford (7 August 2020). "Orlando Patterson heads list of national honours awardees for 2020". Jamaican Observer. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  9. "Orlando Patterson". AAPSS. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
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