Michael Gibson-Light
Associate Professor
Specialization(s)
punishment, Labor, Inequality
Professional Biography
Michael is an Associate Professor of Sociology & Criminology at the University of Denver 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 (2022, Oxford University Press) examines lived experiences of prison life and labor. Following 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork and over 80 interviews conducted within a US state prison, it explores the structure and practices of work behind bars. In so doing, it documents the reproduction of social inequalities in this setting.
Michael's book, Orange-Collar Labor (2022, Oxford University Press) examines lived experiences of prison life and labor. Following 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork and over 80 interviews conducted within a US state prison, it explores the structure and practices of work behind bars. In so doing, it documents the reproduction of social inequalities in this setting.
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
- American Society of Criminology
- Law and Society Association
Featured Publications
. (2022). Orange-Collar Labor: Work and Inequality in Prison. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
. (2018). Ramen Politics: Informal Money and Logics of Resistance in the Contemporary American Prison. QUALITATIVE SOCIOLOGY, 41(2), 199-220.
