Jovan Scott Lewis

Professor Jovan Scott Lewis is a critical human geographer and anthropologist at the University of California, Berkeley, holding the Haas Distinguished Chair in Economic Disparities. His work bridges Black Geographies, Racial Capitalism, and Reparative Justice, with a focus on African-descended communities in the Caribbean and the U.S.

• Education: Ph.D. from the London School of Economics
• Leadership: Chair, UC Berkeley Department of Geography; Founder, Berkeley Black Geographies Project (2016)
• Public Impact: Appointed to California’s first Reparations Task Force (2021–2023); Leads post-Task Force research on racial wealth gaps

His scholarship critiques reparations frameworks, advocating for relational repair beyond injury-centric models. Key works include Scammer’s Yard (2020) on Jamaican informal economies and Violent Utopia (2022) on Tulsa’s racial violence legacies. The 2023 co-edited volume The Black Geographic institutionalizes Black Geographies as a discipline.

Scientific Awards:

• Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Book Award for Scammer’s Yard
• C. Wright Mills Award Finalist for Violent Utopia
• John Hope Franklin Prize Honorable Mention

Current projects include the book State of Repair and leadership in the Alliance for Reparations, Reconciliation and Truth (AART), alongside advisory roles for U.S. and Caribbean reparations initiatives.