Christian Parenti is an American investigative journalist, academic, and author.

Early life and education

Parenti is the son of

Michael Parenti Michael John Parenti (born September 30, 1933) is an American political scientist, academic historian and cultural critic who writes on scholarly and popular subjects. He has taught at universities as well as run for political office. Parenti is ...

and Susan Parenti. He attended Buxton School in Williamstown, Massachusetts,

The New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

, and the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, where he earned a PhD in Sociology and Geography.

Career

His books include ''Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis'' (2000), a survey of the rise of the prison-industrial complex from the

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

through the Reagan Era and into the present, and ''The Soft Cage: Surveillance in America From Slavery to the War on Terror'' (2003), a study of

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

and control in modern society. ''The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq'' (2004), is an account of the US occupation of Iraq. In ''Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence'' (2011), Parenti argues that

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

is the cause of social and political unrest. Parenti has reported from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

and China, among other locations. Parenti's reporting in Afghanistan was the subject of an award-winning

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

documentary, '' Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi''. Directed and edited by Ian Olds, the film follows the working relationship between Parenti and his Afghan colleague Ajmal Naqshbandi, and after Naqshbandi's capture and murder by the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

, Parenti's investigation of that crime.

Academics

Parenti taught at the

New College of California New College of California was a college founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President John Leary. It ceased operations in early 2008. New College's main campus was housed in several buildings in the Mission ...

from 1997 to 2002 and at St. Mary's College in

Moraga, California Moraga is a town in Contra Costa County, California, United States. Located in the San Francisco Bay Area, the town is named in honor of Joaquín Moraga, member of the famed Californio family. As of 2020, Moraga had a total population of 16,870 ...

from 1998 to 2000. He was then a Soros Senior Justice Fellow from 2001 to 2003 and a visiting fellow at

CUNY The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

's Center for Place, Culture and Politics from 2002 to 2010. Parenti subsequently taught sustainable development at the SIT Graduate Institute from 2012 to 2014. Since 2017, he has been teaching at John Jay College, where he is Professor of Economics.

Personal life

He divides his time between

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...

, and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Books

* ''Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis'' (1999) * ''The Soft Cage: Surveillance in America From Slavery to the War on Terror'' (2003) * ''The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq'' (2004) * ''Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence'' (2011) * ''Radical Hamilton: Economic Lessons from a Misunderstood Founder'' (2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parenti, Christian Living people Alumni of the London School of Economics New College of California American foreign policy writers American male non-fiction writers American male journalists American writers of Italian descent American political writers American investigative journalists 1969 births Journalists from New York City Buxton School (Massachusetts) alumni