Algernon Austin

Director of the Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy program

Areas of expertise
Race, ethnicity, and the economy • Discrimination • Education • Public opinion

Biography
Algernon Austin is a sociologist of racial relations. Prior to joining the Economic Policy Institute, he was assistant director of research at the Foundation Center and a Senior Fellow at the Demos think tank. From 2001 to 2005, he served on the faculty of Wesleyan University. Austin is the author of Getting It Wrong: How Black Public Intellectuals Are Failing Black America and Achieving Blackness: Race, Black Nationalism, and Afrocentrism in the Twentieth Century. He has published scholarly articles in Ethnic and Racial StudiesQualitative Sociology, the Journal of African American Studies, and Race, Gender and Class.

Education
Ph.D. Sociology, Northwestern University (2001)
M.A. Sociology, Northwestern University (1995)
B.A. Sociology, Wesleyan University (1990)


Publications by Algernon Austin

Latinos and the good jobs crisis

May 22, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Blog

Asian Americans continued to suffer the most from long-term unemployment in 2011

May 22, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Report

How Romney can show support for working women

May 7, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Blog

Racial inequality and the black homicide rate

May 2, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Blog

The public-sector jobs crisis: Women and African Americans hit hardest by job losses in state and local governments

May 2, 2012 | By David Cooper, Mary Gable, and Algernon Austin | Report

Latinos versus the Census Bureau: When racial categorizations clash

April 10, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Blog

Blacks see largest decline in health insurance coverage

March 23, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Commentary

Charles Murray’s failure by design

March 9, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Blog

For African-Americans, 50 years of high unemployment … and counting

March 9, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Commentary

Black job seekers are still at the back of the bus

February 27, 2012 | By Algernon Austin | Commentary