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The Raewyn Connell Prize

A biennial prize for the best first book by an author in Australian Sociology

Raewyn Connell Prize | About the Prize | Raewyn Connell | Prize | Eligibility Criteria | Nomination and Submission Procedure | Judging Procedure

About the Prize

The Prize is to honour the work of Professor Raewyn Connell in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Australian Sociology. In particular, it honours her contribution to sociological theory and research, and her support and encouragement of sociologists at the beginning of their careers. On this basis, the Prize is intended to encourage and recognise the work of early career sociologists. It is awarded biennially, at the TASA Conference, to the best authored first monograph by an author within the discipline of Sociology. The Prize is funded equally by TASA and by a gift from Raewyn Connell.

Raewyn Connell

Raewyn Connell is a former President and Vice-President of SAANZ, the predecessor of TASA. In 2007 she was the recipient of the TASA Distinguished Service Award for services to Sociology in Australia, and in 2008 her book Southern Theory was awarded the Stephen Crook Memorial Prize. Raewyn was one of the creators of the international field of research on men and masculinities. She was a recipient of the American Sociological Association’s award for distinguished contribution to the study of sex and gender, and was invited by United Nations agencies to lead international discussions of masculinities, violence and peacemaking, and the role of men and boys in achieving gender equality. She has also conducted influential research on educational inequality, class structure, and gender theory. A TASA survey of Australian sociologists in 2004 listed four of her books among the ten most influential in Australian Sociology.

Prize

The recipient of the Prize will receive:

  • $500, a trophy and a certificate
  • Free conference and dinner registration to attend the TASA conference at which the Prize is presented
  • An invitation to discuss their book at a Meet the Author session at the TASA conference
  • A free publisher’s stand at the conference for the purpose of promoting the book
  • An invitation to submit a short paper to the Nexus newsletter about the book
  • Extensive publicity through the TASA membership and wider social science community

Eligibility Criteria

The intention of the TASA Executive Committee in awarding this prize is to recognise members’ contributions to the discipline of sociology through publication of a monograph by a recognised publisher. The general criteria for eligibility are as follows:

  • The Prize will be awarded biennially, commencing in 2010.
  • Entries must be published in the two years preceding the year of the prize, as evidenced by the publication date shown in the front matter.
  • Nominees must be current financial members of TASA and be resident in Australia, or have been resident in Australia during some of the work for the book.
  • The nominated book must: be a major work of scholarship; have an ISBN; be entirely written by a single author, or by joint authors who share responsibility for the whole book (i.e. individual chapters are not attributed to different authors); consist mainly of previously unpublished material, and make some substantial contribution to a defined area of knowledge; be published by a recognised commercial press or publisher. Textbooks (designated by self-proclaimed student orientation and/or significant pedagogic features), edited collections, PhD theses and self-published works are excluded. (However books based on PhD research are acceptable.)
  • Nominees must not have had an eligible book published previously in Australia or overseas. In the case of books with joint authors, both authors must meet this specification.
  • Previous entrants are excluded.
  • The nominated book should be clearly from the discipline of Sociology or combine Sociology with another discipline.
  • Entries may also be submitted for the Stephen Crook Memorial Prize
  • The decision of the judging panel will be final and no further communication will be entered into.

Nomination and Submission Procedure

  • Nominations are sought by general invitation to Australian publishers and a general call to authors via TASAweb, the TASA elist, and Nexus
  • Nominations must be made on the official nomination form available from TASAweb or the TASA Office admin@tasa.org.au. The nomination procedure requires a brief curriculum vitae of the author/s and a $50 processing fee
  • The completed nomination form, fee and 6 copies of the nominated book must be submitted by 30 April, 2010 to the TASA Office
  • It is a condition of entry that publicity for the winning book refers to the prize as The Raewyn Connell Prize. The prize can be described as being awarded biennially for the ‘best authored first monograph in Australian Sociology’
  • The Nomination form for the Raewyn Connell Prize are available in Word and PDF formats.

Judging Procedure

  • The prize will be awarded to the book judged by the panel to be the best published during the nominated years. It is awarded every two years.
  • Textbooks, PhD theses, edited collections and self-published works are excluded from consideration.
  • The panel will comprise 6 members. Authors or co-authors of books are excluded from panel membership.
  • The selection will take place in two stages. Nominated books will be circulated to the panel. Panel members will be asked to read each nominated book, by a set date, and provide a list of three eligible books in order of merit. Books will be awarded 3 points for each 1st preference, 2 points for each 2nd preference, and 1 point for each 3rd preference.
  • The 3 books with the highest total points will be designated as a shortlist. In the event of ties, the shortlist may be longer than 3 books.
  • All members of the panel will be invited to rank the shortlist in order of merit, by a set date.
  • The recipient of the prize will be determined by calculating the number of points awarded to each short-listed book, where 3 points are given for each 1st preference, 2 for each 2nd preference, and 1 point for each third preference. The book scoring the most points wins the prize. In the event of a tie on this calculation, the prize will be awarded to the tied book receiving the most 1st preferences.
  • The prize will only be awarded if at least 50% of the panel members have participated in each of the two rounds of nominations.
  • The prize will be announced and presented to the recipient in the relevant year of the annual TASA conference.
  • The judging panel reserves the right not to award the prize.