Michael Gibson-Light
Associate Professor
303-871-2060 (Office)
Sturm Hall, 2000 East Asbury Avenue Denver, CO 80208
Specialization(s)
punishment, Labor, Inequality
Professional Biography
Michael is an Associate Professor of Sociology & Criminology specializing in the study of punishment, work, and inequality. His research illuminates the often-obscured experiences and struggles of working prisoners through ethnographic observations, interviews, and historical and archival analyses.
Michael's book, Orange-Collar Labor (2023, Oxford University Press) examines lived experiences of prison life and labor. Following 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork and over 80 interviews conducted within a medium-security US state prison, it explores what work looks like behind bars for different incarcerated populations.
Michael's book, Orange-Collar Labor (2023, Oxford University Press) examines lived experiences of prison life and labor. Following 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork and over 80 interviews conducted within a medium-security US state prison, it explores what work looks like behind bars for different incarcerated populations.
Degree(s)
- Ph.D., Sociology, University of Arizona, 2019
- MA, Sociology, University of Arizona, 2013
- BA, Sociology, University of Missouri - St. Louis, 2009
Professional Affiliations
- American Sociological Association
- Law and Society Association
- American Society of Criminology
Featured Publications
Gibson-Light, M. J. (2023). Orange-Collar Labor: Work and Inequality in Prison. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Gibson-Light, M. J. (2018). Ramen Politics: Informal Money and Logics of Resistance in the Contemporary American Prison. QUALITATIVE SOCIOLOGY, 41(2), 199–220.
Awards
- Distinguished Scholarly Book Award, American Sociological Association Section on Labor & Labor Movements
- Outstanding Book Award, American Sociological Association Section on Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility
- Noteworthy Book in Industrial Relations and Labor Economics, Princeton University Industrial Relations Section, Princeton University
