Alex Lichtenstein
College of Arts and Sciences/Department of History
Expert Bio
Alex Lichtenstein is a professor in the Department of History and an adjunct professor in the Department of American Studies at IU Bloomington. He studies the intersection of labor history and the struggle for racial justice in societies shaped by white supremacy, particularly the U.S. South (1865-1954) and 20th-century South Africa.
His first book, “Twice the Work of Free Labor,” examined the role of convict leasing and chain gangs in the remaking of the American South after the Civil War. He writes about race relations in the labor movement, civil rights struggles and the impact of anticommunism, in both the U.S. and South Africa. He is currently editor of the American Historical Review.
Areas of Expertise
South Africa, politics, labor relations, apartheid, U.S. history, civil rights, labor, 20th-century politics, race relations, crime and punishment, prisons, prison labor, race and punishment, journal publishing, history state of the field, history and memory/memorialization.
