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The Joseph Rothschild Prize in Nationalism and Ethnic Studies

Carter Vaughn Findley wins 2011 Rothschild Prize in Nationalities and Ethnic Studies

The Harriman Institute and ASN awarded the Annual Joseph Rothschild Prize to Carter Vaught Findley for his groundbreaking work "Turkey, Islam, Nationalism, and Modernity" (Yale U Press 2010). In 2010, Holly Case received the Prize for her "Between States: The Transylvanian Question and the European Idea during World War II" (Standoford U Press 2009).

Carter Vaughn Findley has written an important book on the Ottoman and Turkish past that provides insights for the future of the Turkish Republic. Findley beautifully illustrates the simultaneous colonial and anti-colonial challenges that the Ottoman elites faced in the 19th century. Distancing himself from the voluminous literature that views Modern Turkish history as a linear progression and triumph of secularism over Islam, Findley highlights the dialectic between radical/secularizing and conservative/Islamic currents and reminds us that both are consistent with Gokalp's classic definition of Turkishness from the turn of the 20th century. Turkey, Islam. Nationalism, and Modernity accurately reconstructs the various intellectual currents and brings to life a wide range of literary products. This is a work of a historian that provides insight for developments both in electoral politics and the politics of identity in contemporary Turkey.

The committee would also like to award an honorable mention to Scott Radnitz' "Weapons of the Wealthy: Predatory Regimes and Elite-Led Protests in Central Asia" (Cambridge University Press). This book shows how patronage networks can be used to create popular political mobilization in illiberal states. It goes inside one of the people-powered color revolutions to show tha apparent cases of mass mobilization may just be expressions of intra-elite conflicts. This result is a book that is a must-read for students of popular revolt in non-democratic states.

The winner of the 2011 Rothschild Prize was chosen by the following scholars:
Holly Case (Cornell U)
Dmitry Gorenburg (Harvard U)
Harris Mylonas (The George Washington U)

The name of the winner was announced at the 16th Annual ASN World Convention, held on April 12-14, 2011 at Columbia University, New York, NY.

2012 Nomination details

Download a copy of the 2012 nomination rules

Rules of Eligibility
Rules of eligibility for the Joseph Rothschild Prize in Nationalism and Ethnic Studies are as follows:

  • The copyright date inside the book must list 2011 as the date of publication.
  • Authors may be of any nationality as long as the work is originally published in English.
  • Works may deal with any area of Russia, Eastern Europe, or Eurasia (including the Balkans, Central Europe, the Baltics, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkey, Afghanistan, and China).
  • The competition is open to works of scholarship in any field, so long as substantial attention is paid to the study of nationalism and/or ethnicity, broadly defined.
  • Edited volumes, textbooks, translations, bibliographies, and reference works are ineligible.
  • Books by currently serving judges of the Joseph Rothschild Prize in Nationalism and Ethnic Studies, or by immediate family members of this group, are not eligible.

2012 Joseph Rothschild Book Prize Committee

The winner of the 2012 Joseph Rothschild Prize in Nationalism and Ethnic Studies will be chosen by the following scholars:

Dmitry Gorenburg, Harvard University; Committee Chair
(mailing address):
Dmitry Gorenburg
178 Richardson Dr
Needham, MA 02492

Alison Frank, Harvard University
(mailing address):
Alison Frank
Harvard University
Department of History
27 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Harris Mylonas, George Washington University
(mailing address):
Harris Mylonas
The Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
1727 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Nominating Instructions
Send one copy of each eligible monograph to each Committee member (see addresses above) AND to the ASN office at:

Rothschild Book Prize Nomination,
c/o Roland Spickermann
Book Review Editor, Nationalities Papers
Dept. of History
University of Texas - Permian Basin
4901 East University
Odessa TX 79762-0001 USA

Nominations must be received no later than December 12, 2011. (We will accept books with a 2011 publication date that are published after December 12, as long as they are mailed no later than January 13, 2012.)

Submissions should be clearly marked "Rothschild Book Prize Nomination". If you would like to receive an acknowledgment that your nomination was received please enclose with the copy mailed to the ASN office a note with your e-mail address or a self-addressed stamped envelope or a postcard.