About:

Sharon Wright Austin is Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on African-American women’s political behavior, African-American mayoral elections, rural African-American political activism, and African-American political behavior.

She is the author of Race, Power, and Political Emergence in Memphis (Garland 2000); The Transformation of Plantation Politics in the Mississippi Delta: Black Politics, Concentrated Poverty, and Social Capital in the Mississippi Delta (State University of New York Press 2006); and The Caribbeanization of Black Politics: Race, Group Consciousness, and Political Participation in America (State University of New York Press 2018). She has also published articles in the National Political Science Review, Political Research Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, the Journal of Black Studies, and Politics and Policy, as well as several book chapters. She currently has two forthcoming books, Political Black Girl Magic: The Elections and Governance of Black Female Mayors (In Production, Temple University Press) and Beyond Racial Capitalism: Cooperatives in the African Diaspora (In Production, Oxford University Press and co-edited with Caroline Shenaz Hossein and Kevin Edmonds).

Relevant Media:

• Kamala Harris’ connection to Caribbean voters could make difference in Florida in WEIS Radio
• Here’s what you need to know, as in-person early voting begins Monday in Brevard in Florida Today
• The making of Kamala Harris in the New Statesman
• ‘How is this helpful to working class?’ Indian River NAACP says of early voting hours in TCPalm
• The ‘law and order’ Democrat that Biden should pick for VP in CNN

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