Orlando Patterson

Orlando Patterson, a historical and cultural sociologist, is John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University and the author of Slavery and Social Death, Freedom in the Making of Western Culture, The Ordeal of Integration, and most recently, Rituals of Blood: Consequences of Slavery in Two American Centuries. A public intellectual, Professor Patterson was, for eight years, Special Advisor for Social policy and development to Prime Minister Michael Manley of Jamaica. The author of three novels, he has published widely in journals of opinion and the national press.