
Fields of Interest
Biography

His first book, Fighting for Democracy: Black Veterans and the Struggle Against White Supremacy in the Postwar South (Princeton University Press, 2009), winner of the American Political Science Association's Ralph J. Bunche Award, takes a fresh approach to the civil rights movement by gauging the extent to which black veterans contributed to social change. A second book, Change They Can't Believe In: The Tea Party and Reactionary Politics in America (Princeton University Press, 2013), explores the beliefs, attitudes, and behavior of the Tea Party. This book won the American Political Science Association's award for the best book in Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. A third book, currently in progress, Haven't We Seen this [Stuff] Before?: The Reactionary Right and the Origins of Contemporary Racial Politics, examines the forebears of the Tea Party, and how their resistance to progress resulted in the present political climate in which America remains mired in racial conflict.
Prof. Parker can be seen in the award-winning series, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, Episode 5: Rise! (1940 - 1968), discussing with Dr. Henry Louis Gates the African-American veterans returning from World War II, themselves changed, but returning to a country still mired in Jim Crow laws. Prof. Parker appears at the seven minute mark.
Research
Selected Research
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Christopher Sebastian Parker and Matt A. Barreto. "The Great White Hope: Threat and Racial Resilience in the Age of Trump." Democratic Resilience. Can the United States Withstand Rising Polarization?, Edited by Lieberman, Robert C., Mettler, Suzanne and Roberts, Kenneth M.
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Christopher Sebastian Parker. "Status Threat: Moving the Right Further to the Right?" American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 2021, vol. 150: 56-75.
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Rachel Marie Blum and Christopher Sebastian Parker. "Trump-ing Foreign Affairs: Status Threat and Foreign Policy Preferences on the Right." Perspectives on Politics, 2019, vol. 17, no. 3.
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Christopher C. Towler and Christopher Sebastian Parker. "Race and Authoritarianism in American Politics." Annual Review of Political Science, 2019, vol. 22:503–19.
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- Christopher C. Towler and Christopher S. Parker. "Between Anger and Engagement: Donald Trump and Black America." The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, vol. 3, Special Issue 1 (Race, Religion, Gender and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election), March 2018, pp. 219-253.
- Christopher Parker. "The Radical Right in the United States of America." The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right, edited by Jens Rydgren, Oxford Handbooks, 2018.
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Christopher Sebastian Parker. "Race and Politics in the Age of Obama." Annual Review of Sociology, 2016, vol. 42:217–30.
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- Christopher S. Parker and Matt A. Barreto. Change They Can’t Believe In: The Tea Party and Reactionary Politics in Contemporary America. Princeton University Press, 2013.
- Christopher S. Parker. “War and African American Citizenship, 1865-1965: The Role of Military Service.” The Handbook of African American Citizenship, edited by Henry Louis Gates, jr., Claude Steele, Lawrence D. Bobo, Michael C. Dawson, Gerald Jaynes, Lisa Crooms-Robinson, and Linda Darling, Oxford University Press, 2012.
- Christopher S. Parker. “A Subjective Assessment of Veterans Health Care: From the Veteran's Point of View." The Politics of Veterans’ Policy: Federal Policy in the Modern United States, edited by Stephen Ortiz, University of Florida Press, 2012.
- Christopher S. Parker. “The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).” The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements, edited by David A. Snow, Donatella Della Porta, Bert Klandermans, and Doug McAdam, Blackwell Press, 2012.
- Matt Baretto, Betsy L Cooper, Benjamin Gonzalez, Christopher S. Parker, and Christopher Towler. “The Tea Party in the Age of Obama: Mainstream Conservatism or Out-Group Anxiety?” Political Power and Social Theory, 22 (2011): 105-137.
- Christopher S. Parker. “Symbolic versus Blind Patriotism: Distinction without Difference?” Political Research Quarterly, vol. 63, March 2010, pp. 97-114.
- Christopher S. Parker. Fighting for Democracy: Black Veterans and the Struggle Against White Supremacy in the Postwar South. Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 2009.
- Christopher S. Parker, Mark Q. Sawyer, and Christopher Towler. "A Black Man in the White House? The Role of Racism and Patriotism in the 2008 Presidential Election.” Du Bois Review, Vol. 6, Spring 2009, pp. 193-217.
- Christopher S. Parker. “When Politics Becomes Protest: Black Veterans and Political Activism in the Postwar South.” Journal of Politics, 71, Winter 2009, pp. 113-131.
- Christopher S. Parker. “New Weapons for Old Problems: Conventional Proliferation and Military Effectiveness in Developing States.” International Security, 23, 1999, pp. 119-147.
Research Advised: Graduate Dissertations
Courses Taught
Winter 2021
Autumn 2020
Winter 2020
Autumn 2019
Winter 2019
Winter 2018
Summer 2017 A-term
Winter 2017
News & Events
Related News
- Prof. Christopher Parker on KUOW, "'Washington and Seattle are not what you think.' How the Capitol insurrection changed politics across the US" - January 7, 2022
- Prof. Christopher Parker Research Quoted in NYT, "Trump’s Cult of Animosity Shows No Sign of Letting Up" - July 9, 2021
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The Guardian, "The fight to whitewash US history: ‘A drop of poison is all you need’" - May 25, 2021
- Prof. Christopher Parker's Work Cited in The Guardian, "Millions of Americans think the election was stolen. How worried should we be about more violence?" - April 28, 2021
- Prof. Christopher Parker in Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, "Status Threat: Moving the Right Further to the Right?" - March 31, 2021
- Prof. Christopher Parker on Vox site, "The Republican revolt against democracy, explained in 13 charts" - March 3, 2021
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The Washington Post, "Why the GOP can’t quit Trump" - March 2, 2021
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The Seattle Times, "A UW professor explains why the GOP, even now, just can’t quit Trump" - February 16, 2021
- Prof. Christopher Parker in UW News, "New nationwide survey shows MAGA supporters’ beliefs about the pandemic, the election and the insurrection" - February 9, 2021
- Prof. Christopher Parker on KUOW's Seattle Now, "Uniting a divided America won't be easy" - January 22, 2021
- Prof. Christopher Parker on the BBC Regarding Biden Appointments and Diversity - December 9, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker on WalletHub, "2020's States with the Most & Least Powerful Voters" - October 30, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The Washington Post, "How reckless White allies could lead to the reelection of Trump" - August 13, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker on KNKX Radio, "'Hard to be an optimist,' but this time could be different" - July 15, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The Seattle Times Opinion, "Check your patriotism" - July 6, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker Interviewed in The Washington Post, "A massive repudiation of Trump’s racist politics is building" - July 6, 2020
- Three Polisci Professors Interviewed in The New York Times Opinion, "Biden and Trump Are Fighting Each Other in a Changed World" - June 17, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker Quoted In Three Articles Regarding Protests - June 4, 2020
- Faculty Perspectives on the George Floyd Protests - June 4, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker quoted on Wired site, "The Anti-Quarantine Protests Aren't About Covid-19" - April 29, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker on Politico, "Why Bernie Sanders Isn’t Winning Over Black Voters" - March 11, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker on Politico Magazine, "The New Rules: Racism can drive votes" - February 3, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker interviewed in The Nation, "Donald Trump Is Not the Only Alleged Criminal Democrats Can’t Unseat" - January 31, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker Interviewed on Pacifica Radio, "83% of African Americans Say Trump Is a Racist" - January 24, 2020
- Prof. Christopher Parker work quoted in the New York Times, "America holds onto an undemocratic assumption from its founding: that some people deserve more power than others" - December 10, 2019
- Prof. Christopher Parker on the Seattle Channel: Civic Cocktail: Combating White Supremacy - September 26, 2019
- Prof. Christopher Parker in the Cambridge University Press: “Trump-ing Foreign Affairs: Status Threat and Foreign Policy Preferences on the Right” - August 21, 2019
- Prof. Christopher Parker in a Crosscut debate, "Will Donald Trump win re-election? If not, who will stop him, and how?" - June 26, 2019
- Prof. Christopher S. Parker in the Review Symposium, "A Discussion of Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt’s How Democracies Die" - December 6, 2018
- Prof. Christopher Parker on the Washington Post's Monkey Cage blog, "Which motivates independents to get politically involved: Pocketbook issues or fear that Trump is hurting democracy?" - November 27, 2018
- Prof. Christopher S. Parker talking, Trumpism in Europe: The American President Offers Hope to Growing Far Right Forces Overseas - October 19, 2018
- Prof. Christopher S. Parker on The Hill web site, “There's a boost in black turnout, especially among black women voters” - August 29, 2018
- Prof. Christopher Parker on KQED radio San Francisco, "Racial Resentment and White Cultural Anxiety Fuel Support of President Trump, Studies Find" - July 17, 2018
- Professor Christopher Parker Lecture on C-SPAN, The Great White Hope: Donald Trump, Race, & The Crisis of American Politics - May 2, 2018
- Could anti-Trump sentiment mobilize African-American voters in 2018? - March 14, 2018
- Prof. Christopher Parker at Town Hall Seattle with Arlie Russell Hochschild on her book, "Strangers in Their Own Land" - February 28, 2018
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The Hill, "A perceived threat could be the key to the black vote in 2018" - December 19, 2017
- Prof. Christopher Parker leads a Study Abroad Program in Berlin, Germany, Summer 2018 - December 14, 2017
- Prof. Christopher Parker interview on WFHB and Public Radio Exchange (PRX), "The Same Old Hate: The Reactionary Right Rides Again" - November 15, 2017
- The Flaws of “A Better Deal”: Professor Parker discusses Democratic platform on Slate - August 14, 2017
- Trump’s Affirmative-Action Rollback: A Promise Kept: Prof. Christopher Parker in The Chronicle of Higher Education - August 3, 2017
- From the Tea Party to Trump: The Salon Interviews Professor Christopher Sebastian Parker - July 24, 2017
- What Drives Trump Supporters: Professor Christopher Sebastian Parker on The Michelangelo Signorile Show - July 11, 2017
- Three Faculty Panels address the impact of the 2016 Presidential Election in the US and Around the World - June 29, 2017
- The Department in the News - June 28, 2017
- UW professor got it right on Trump. So why is he being ignored? Prof. Christopher Parker in The Seattle Times - June 16, 2017
- Gaslighting: A Threat to Democracy? Professor Christopher Parker & Colleagues at Town Hall Seattle Discussion - March 10, 2017
- Trump & Racism: Professor Parker Interview on Ian Masters Background Briefing - January 19, 2017
- The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates Cites Professor Christopher Parker’s Research - January 3, 2017
- ‘White Fright’ Elected Trump: Prof. Christopher Parker on The Conversation - November 21, 2016
- Racism in Seattle: Professor Christopher Parker Discusses WA Poll Results - November 9, 2016
- Prof. Parker on The History Channel discussing Nostradamus and the Presidential Election - November 7, 2016
- Voting has gone tribal: Professor Christopher Parker in The Seattle Times - October 31, 2016
- A State Divided: Washington Poll Results Discussed on KCTS 9 - October 27, 2016
- The Huffington Post Lists Professor Christopher Parker’s book to understand ‘Trump(ism)’ - October 5, 2016
- Professors Parker & Smith Discuss the 2016 Election at Seattle Town Hall - September 29, 2016
- Professor Christopher Parker Discusses Trump’s chances on Crosscut - September 27, 2016
- The Kaepernick Conundrum: Prof. Christopher Parker Weighs in on KCTS 9 - September 21, 2016
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The Conversation, "Why Colin Kaepernick is like George Washington - September 9, 2016
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The Conversation, "Does ‘Black Lives Matter’ still matter?" - July 27, 2016
- Prof. Christopher Parker on Radio T Suisse, "Barack Obama's America still far from 'post-racial'" - July 6, 2016
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The American Prospect, "Do Trump’s Racist Appeals Have a Silver Lining?" - May 20, 2016
- Prof. Parker explains “Why Obama will have the last laugh” on TheConversation.com - May 16, 2016
- Prof. Christopher Parker discusses “Why Donald Trump could be good for America” on KUOW - May 4, 2016
- “Why Bernie will burn out in Dixie” – Prof. Christopher Parker on Democratic Primary Race - February 29, 2016
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The Conversation journal asks, "Race and racism after Obama: where do we go from here?" - January 14, 2016
- Prof. Christopher Parker Appeals to Rank-and-File Republicans in The Conversation - December 21, 2015
- Affiliated Centers: WISER is now WISIR - November 18, 2015
- Prof. Christopher Parker on The Conversation web site, "Ben Carson: token candidate" - November 6, 2015
- Prof. Christopher Parker in The Conversation, "How the GOP circus act compromises American Democracy" - October 14, 2015
- Prof. Christopher Parker on The Converstation, "Boehner resigns: scholars see trouble ahead for GOP" - September 28, 2015
- Prof. Parker: If Goldwater can win the GOP nomination, why not Trump? - September 17, 2015
- Prof. Christopher Parker on the KCTS9 Race, Justice & Democracy forum in Yakima, WA - September 14, 2015
- Recent UW PhD Sergio Garcia-Rios in Time, The ‘Jorge Ramos Effect’ Could Hurt Donald Trump - August 31, 2015
- Professors Parker & Francis Discuss Race Relations on TheConversation.com - August 11, 2015
- Prof. Christopher Parker re: Charleston, SC on TheConversation.com web site. - July 7, 2015
- Prof. Christopher Parker discusses the Rachel Dolezal case on Background Briefing with Ian Masters - June 16, 2015
- Prof. Christopher Parker discusses policing and deteriorating race relations in the country on Background Briefing with Ian Masters - December 8, 2014
- Prof. Christopher Parker on Berkeley, CA's community radio station - December 2, 2014
- Prof. Christopher Parker participates in the University of Virginia's Miller Center American Forum debate - October 27, 2014
- Prof. Parker in the Miller Center American Forum's National Debate Series, "If It Were Not for Big Central Gov't, I'd Be a Slave Right Now" - October 20, 2014
- Prof. Christopher Parker on "Is There Such a Thing as 'Conservative Foreign Policy' in 2014?" (from Brookings Institution) - October 15, 2014
- Prof. Parker work referenced and quoted on Washington Post Wonkblog's story, "95% of Republican House districts are majority-white" - August 12, 2014
- Prof. Christopher Parker on Brookings Institution website, "The (Real) Reason Why the House Won't Pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform" - August 4, 2014
- Prof. Christopher Parker on Scholars Strategy Network, "A Suicidal Republican War" - June 30, 2014
- Prof. Christopher Parker interviewed on Salon.com, "Tea Party's hot mess: Inside a noisy, disenchanted movement" - June 25, 2014
- Prof. Parker on Brookings Institution website, "Wither the Tea Party? The Future of a Political Movement" - June 4, 2014
- Prof. Christopher Parker radio interview on ABC Classic FM (Australia) - April 1, 2014
- Prof. Christopher Parker in the Democracy Journal, "Will the Tea Party Outlast Obama?" - March 1, 2014
- Prof. Christopher Parker radio interview on KPFK Los Angeles about Martin Luther King, Jr's legacy and race, class, and economics - January 20, 2014
- 2013 Political Science News Summary - December 31, 2013
- Is the Tea Party like the Klan? - November 25, 2013
- Prof. Chris Parker on CSPAN2 for lecture recorded at Colby College - November 20, 2013
- Prof. Parker Contributed Article to The Washington Post's Monkey Cage Blog - October 8, 2013
- Prof. Parker cited in The Washington Post's Wonkblog about "Republican Civil War" - October 6, 2013
- Prof. Parker interviewed for The Washington Post's Wonkblog - October 5, 2013
- Parker Research Discussed in NYT Article on Radical Conservatism - September 24, 2013
- 2012 Political Science News Summary - December 31, 2012
- 2011 Political Science News Summary - December 31, 2011
- 2010 Political Science News Summary - December 31, 2010
Related Events
- UWISC Talk, "From Movements and Parties to Movement-Parties: Comparative Perspectives on Contentious Politics" - April 22, 2022 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
- 2020-2021 WISIR Series:Panel 2: Race & the 2020 Election - November 6, 2020 - 11:00am to 12:00pm
- 2020-2021 WISIR Series: Panel 1: Social Movements & Racial Justice - October 7, 2020 - 11:00am to 12:00pm
- Political Science Autumn 2018 Faculty Panel: The 2018 Midterms and their Consequences - November 1, 2018 - 5:30pm to 7:00pm
- Winter Faculty Panel: Has Trumpism Gone Global? - March 6, 2018 - 4:45pm to 6:00pm
- The Rise of the Right Across Western Democracies - April 17, 2017 - 7:30pm
- Winter Faculty Panel: President Trump & Politics beyond the United States - March 1, 2017 - 4:30pm to 6:00pm
- Gaslighting in Government - February 27, 2017 - 7:30pm
- 2016 Election: How Did We Get Here? - September 27, 2016 - 7:30pm
- Equality Initiative in PoliSci Roundtable: Race in Academia - October 23, 2015 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm