Robert Perkinson

Robert Perkinson is an Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he has taught since 2001. A leading historian of American punishment, he is renowned for his award-winning book Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire (2010), which analyzes how Texas developed the blueprint for mass incarceration through racialized politics and economic exploitation from Reconstruction to the present.

Perkinson's academic background includes:

• PhD in American Studies, Yale University
• MA in American Studies, Yale University
• BA in History (with honors), University of Colorado at Boulder

His research centers on the historical development of carceral systems, examining how race, class, and political economy shaped punitive policies. Perkinson demonstrates how convict leasing after slavery evolved into modern mass incarceration, with Texas serving as the epicenter of this 'prison empire.' His work critically analyzes the role of racial hierarchy in sentencing disparities, prison conditions, and the political rhetoric surrounding criminal justice.

Perkinson's publications span academic journals and public forums, showing consistent evolution from 1990s analyses of international issues toward deep specialization in prison history. His scholarship reveals how historical patterns like convict leasing directly inform contemporary issues such as prison privatization, racial profiling, and the political economy of punishment, with particular attention to Texas as both regional case study and national model.

His major recognition includes:

• PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction (2011)
• Official designation of 'Robert Perkinson Day' in Hawaiʻi (November 11, 2011)

As an educator, Perkinson teaches courses on crime and punishment, Southern and Western history, race and class, and American empire. His involvement in UH Mānoa's 2014 Obama Presidential Center initiative demonstrates engagement with broader historical narratives. While specific grant details aren't documented in sources, his influential scholarship and public commentary indicate sustained research activity focused on the historical roots of contemporary criminal justice crises.