The British Association for Irish Studies is proud to announce that the winner of its inaugural book prize is Dr Sarah Jankowitz (Liverpool) for her study The Order of Victimhood: Violence, Hierarchy and Building Peace in Northern Ireland (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). In praising the book, one judge commented that ‘This research is of great significance in terms of its applications to the peace process. Through its focus on “re-humanising the other” and “thicker reconciliation” this book provides sociologists and other social scientists with fruitful and flexible categories of analysis.’

In a tight contest, Dr George Legg’s (KCL) Northern Ireland and the Politics of Boredom: Conflict, Capital and Culture (Manchester University Press, 2018) was Highly Commended. One judge praised the book’s significance: ‘In that the book rethinks Northern Ireland in terms other than the established one of political divisions it is already significant. In that it focuses on a potentially progressive mode of understanding actualities which transcend old binaries it is doubly significant.’ As Dr Legg is our Treasurer, his book was judged by distinguished academics from outside the BAIS Executive Council.

The Prize will be awarded to Dr Jankowitz at the BAIS event at the Irish Embassy on 16 May, to which all BAIS members are invited. Other awards, including the BAIS Postgraduate Bursary and the BAIS Postgraduate Essay awards.