Patrick is a political economist based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies in Durban, where he directs the Centre for Civil Society (http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs). He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, raised in Alabama, and educated in economics at Swarthmore College, finance at the University of Pennsylvania, and geography at Johns Hopkins University. He is active with social movements in South Africa, Zimbabwe and internationally.