John Major Eason is an Associate Professor in the Watson Family University Associate Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs at Brown University.
He holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago. Professor Eason, a native of Evanston, Illinois received a B.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a M.P.P. from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
Before entering graduate school, he was a church-based community organizer focusing on housing and criminal justice issues. He also served as a political organizer for then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama.
His research interest challenges existing models and develops new theories of community, health, race, punishment, and rural/urban processes in several ways. First, by tracing the emergence of the rural ghetto he establishes a new conceptual model of rural neighborhoods. Next, by demonstrating the function of the ghetto in rural communities he extends concentrated disadvantage from urban to rural community process. These relationships are explored through his book, Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation, at the University of Chicago Press.
He uses multi-method, multi-level approaches in empirical investigations ranging from imprisonment, prisoner reentry, murder, healthcare access, and health disparities across the rural-urban continuum.
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e-mail: jeason2@wisc.edu
- Interview on Decarceration Nation Podcast w/Josh Hoe August 26, 2019 online.
- John Eason explains the realities of criminal justice reform in Wisconsin
Governor-elect Tony Evers announced the members for a criminal justice reform advisory panel and listed big goals for the state of Wisconsin. John Eason, a UW-Madison associate professor of sociology specializing in criminal justice reform, joins us to discuss Wisconsin's rates of incarceration. Eason explains that changes must be a rebuild, not a reform on “Here and Now” Noon Wednesday for Wisconsin Public Television. December 14, 2018.
- Interview on "Left of Black" w/Mark Anthony Neal February 28, 2017 online.
- The Prison Boom in Rural Communities at Vera Institute of Justice, March 27, 2018 online.
- Why Prisons Will Keep Booming in Rural America at Vera Institute of Justice, July 24, 2017 online.
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- Why are private prisons controversial? 3 Questions Answered. Private prisons have long stirred controversy, most recently over their role in housing undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border. Several states have banned them, several banks have vowed to stop financing them and more than one presidential candidate has pledged to end them at the federal level. John M. Eason, associate professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has done extensive research on private prisons. We asked him to provide some background on why they’re so controversial.
- Research Probes the Racial Underpinnings of Prison Policy John Eason suggests that mass incarceration – the annual rate of more than 2 million being locked up – was not possible without the prison boom that increased prison facilities from about 500 to 1,700. From the "Fueling Discovery: A closer look at the UW College of Letters & Science series", Wisconsin State Journal, May 5, 2019.
- Will Governor Evers's Marijuana Proposals Impact Racial Incarceraiton Disparities? Governor Evers says his proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana will mitigate racial discrepancies in incarceration rates. Our guest John Eason explains why these disparities exist, and how enforcement of laws against marijuana possession contributes to them. “The Morning Show” with Colleen Leahy on Wisconsin Public Radio. February 22, 2019.
- The State of Prison Labor For $1 an hour, prison inmates are helping fight California’s wildfires. Sociologist John Eason joins John Munson to talk about the history of prison labor in America, how programs vary across the country, and who they really benefit: States or inmates? We also take a look at Wisconsin’s own program on “The Morning Show” on Wisconsin Public Radio November 27, 2018.
- What is prison gerrymandering, and how does it affect democracry? When the Census Bureau counts people in prison, it doesn’t always count them as residents of their home districts. Instead, it counts them as residents of the district where the prison is located — even though most states place voting restrictions on prisoners. Our guest unpacks the import of these laws and the consequences for democracy. Interview on, “The Morning Show” on Wisconsin Public Radio with John Munson. November 5, 2018 online.
- Why are there so many African-Americans incarcerated in Vermont? Brave Little State on Vermont Public Radio November 2, 2018 online.
- The Prison Industry in Poor Rural Communities We interview John Eason from Texas A&M University author of “Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation”, Sociocast, November 1, 2017 online.
- The Economics of Prison Boomtowns Citylab. May 2, 2017 online.
- Why small-town people, black and white, support prisons The Houston Chronicle. March 15, 2017 online.
- Prison building will continue booming in rual America Salon.com. March 15, 2017.
- The prison business is booming in rural America and there's no end in sight Business Insider.com. March 13, 2017.
- Why prison building will continue booming in rural America The Conversation. March 12, 2017 online.
- In small town America, sometimes prisons are the best bet Timeline, May 1, 2017 online