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Allan G. Johnson, PhD

I am a writer, teacher and public speaker who has worked on issues of privilege, oppression and social inequality since earning my Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Michigan in 1972. After almost 30 years of college teaching, I now devote myself entirely to writing and public speaking. I have worked with more than 150 schools and organizations in 34 states. My books include “The Forest and the Trees: Sociology as Life, Practice, and Promise” (1997), “The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology: A User's Guide to Sociological Language,” 2e (2000), “The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy” (Temple University Press, revised edition, 2005) and “Privilege, Power, and Difference” (McGraw-Hill, 2nd edition, 2005). My work has been translated into several languages and excerpted in numerous anthologies.

I am available for presentations and workshops related to issues of social inequality and privilege. In this work, my goal is to present controversial, often difficult, issues with gentle and compassionate clarity in ways that people not only understand, but can relate to on a personal level. I try to offer a blend of life experience, humor, social reality, audience participation and clear analysis that opens windows to new and productive ways of thinking and living in the world. As a white male, I am especially concerned with reaching men and whites who might feel so uncomfortable with issues of privilege that they won't even talk about them.