Jesse J. Benjamin

Jesse Benjamin is an interdisciplinary scholar in the department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, and the School of Conflict Management, Peacebuilding and Development, at Kennesaw State University in suburban Atlanta, where he is also past Coordinator of African and African Diaspora Studies, and the first RISE Research Scholar in the new Radow Institute for Social Equity (“recognized for his scholarly work in the areas of social justice, equity and economic inequality as they relate to race”). Dr. Benjamin is a cultural anthropologist/ethnographer (BA 1992, MA 1996) and world historical systems sociologist (PhD 2002, SUNY Binghamton) with a broad focus on the sociology and political economy of race, decolonial theory, Pan-Africanism, epistemology, human rights and development. His research focuses on issues of identity, race and historiography in North America, Israel/Palestine and Egypt, coastal Kenya, and the Kurdish world. His recently co-edited / authored books include: Decolonial Marxism: Essays from the Pan-African Revolution (by Walter Rodney), 2022, Race and Ethnicity: Difference and Decolonization (2020), The Groundings With My Brothers (2019), The Russian Revolution: A View from the Third World (2018), Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies in West Africa: Beyond Right and Wrong (2015), Indigenous Conflict Management Strategies: Global Perspectives (2014). His more than 80 publications have appeared in the UNESCO History of Africa, Vol. X; Claim No Easy Victories: The Legacy of Amilcar Cabral; The Black Power Encyclopedia; Contesting Identities: The Mijikenda and their Neighbors in Kenyan Coastal Society; The Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora, and journals such as: Monthly Review, Review of African Political Economy, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Groundings, Phylon, Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, Africa is a Country, Z Magazine, Association of Concerned Africa Scholars Bulletin, and World History Bulletin. A board member at the Walter Rodney Foundation, he founded the Walter Rodney Public Speakers Series and has won numerous awards for his teaching, diversity leadership, and community engagement. He has been an anti-racist human rights activist everywhere he’s lived: Brooklyn, London, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Kenya, upstate New York, Toronto, Minnesota, Georgia.