George Lipsitz (1949– ) is Professor of Black Studies and Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a leading scholar in American Studies, cultural theory, race, and social movements. Lipsitz has published widely on popular culture, urban life, collective memory, and struggles for social justice. His major works include Time Passages: Collective Memory and American Popular Culture (1990), The Possessive Investment in Whiteness (1998), and Footsteps in the Dark: The Hidden Histories of Popular Music (2007). His research connects academic analysis with activism, emphasizing the political significance of culture and the contributions of marginalized communities to American society.