Orlando Patterson

Orlando Patterson (born 1940) is a Jamaica-born American historical and cultural sociologist known for his work regarding issues of race in the America, as well as the sociology of development, currently holding the John Cowles chair in Sociology at Harvard University. Patterson took his B.Sc in Economics from the University of London and his Ph.D. in Sociology at the London School of Economics in 1965.

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, the then Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1972 to 1979.

Patterson has appeared on PBS and has been a guest columnist in The New York Times.

Professional associations

• Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Ernest W. Burgess Fellow, American Academy of Political and Social Science
• Member, American Sociological Association

Awards

• Walter Channing Cabot Faculty Prize, Harvard, 1997
• National Book Award, Non-Fiction, 1991
• Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship (formerly Sorokin Prize): American Sociological Association, 1983
• Ralph Bunche Award from Howard University for the Best Scholarly Work on Pluralism (co-winner): American
• Political Science Association, 1983
• Walter Channing Cabot Faculty Prize, Harvard, 1983/1997
• Best Novel in English: Dakar Festival of Negro Arts, 1965

Selected bibliography

• Patterson, Orlando (1965). The Children of Sisyphus. 
• Patterson, Orlando (1982). Slavery and Social Death. 
• Patterson, Orlando (1991). Freedom in the Making of Western Culture.  (Later renamed Freedom, Vol. 1: Freedom in the Making of Western Culture)
• Patterson, Orlando (1999). Rituals of Blood: Consequences of Slavery in Two American Centuries. 
• Patterson, Orlando (2006). Freedom: Freedom in the Modern World. 

External links

• Patterson Biography at Harvard
• Patterson's Curriculum Vitae
• Video of debate/discussion with Patterson on Bloggingheads.tv

Persondata
Name	Patterson, Orlando
Alternative names
Short description	American historical and cultural sociologist
Date of birth	1940
Place of birth	Jamaica
Date of death
Place of death