History of the prize
The Brian Barry Prize, worth £1500, is awarded annually for excellence in political science, with the winning essay published in the British Journal of Political Science.
The prize is made in partnership with Cambridge University Press and the British Journal of Political Science in honour of Brian Barry, a distinguished Fellow of the British Academy and founding editor of the journal. The prize was first awarded in 2014.
Professor Brian Barry FBA (1936-2009) was a distinguished moral and political philosopher, widely credited with having fruitfully brought together analytic philosophy and political science, political theory and social choice theory. In 1988, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy, to which he gave valuable service.
Eligibility
a) Eligible submissions must be an essay that has not been previously published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere
b) The essay can address any topic in political science, as covered by the British Journal of Political Science, but essays in fields related to the work of Brian Barry will be especially welcome
c) Essays may be submitted by anyone in possession of a first degree
d) The prize is not open to current employees and Fellows of the British Academy, employees of Cambridge University Press, or the current Editors, Managing Editors or other administrative staff of the British Journal of Political Science
e) The Prize cannot be awarded to the same person more than once
f) Entries should be at least 8000 and up to 10,000 words, including references, with an abstract of no more than 100 words
How to submit
Before submission please carefully read the Brian Barry Prize FAQs.
Submissions for the 2025 Brian Barry Prize will be accepted from 1 December 2024 until 28 February 2025 (closing time of 17:00pm GMT). Submissions received after this date will not be considered.
Please submit your anonymised essay as a PDF via email to [email protected].
In the body of the email, clearly state:
- All author names
- Institution(s)
- Email addresses
- Highlight the corresponding author
Submissions must be in accordance with the Journal's style sheet. If any of the above information is missing, the submission will not be considered.
Entrants should be aware that submissions sent to [email protected] will be automatically forwarded to Anna Wylie (Senior Editorial Assistant, Cambridge University Press), who will reply via [email protected]. We suggest that you request a 'read receipt' when you send your email to ensure that it has been delivered. You will receive an email from Anna confirming receipt of your submission.
The winning entry will be published in the British Journal of Political Science as the 'British Academy Brian Barry Prize Essay' and the author or authors of the winning essay will receive £1500 in total (ie, if there are three authors then they will receive £500 each).
Submissions will be reviewed, and a winner proposed, by the Brian Barry Prize panel:
- Professor Paul Bou-Habib, Editor of British Journal of Political Science
- Professor David Owen FBA
- Professor Sue Mendus FBA
- Professor Susan James FBA
- Professor Stathis Kalyvas FBA
If you have any queries about submitting a nomination, please consult the Brian Barry Prize FAQs or email [email protected].
Key Dates
2024 winner
Assistant Professor Faik Kurtulumuş, for his essay 'Learning from the Enemies of Freedom: Freedom of Expression and Collective Power'
Faik Kurtulmuş is an Assistant Professor of Political Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Sabancı University, Istanbul. His research explores how social structures shape what we can come to know and how what we know influences our opportunities for flourishing and exercising agency as free and equal citizens. His work has appeared in journals such as The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Synthese, Utilitas, Episteme, Journal of Applied Philosophy, and Political Studies. Currently, he is working with Gürol Irzık on a book tentatively titled Justice in the Distribution of Knowledge.
"I am deeply honoured to have been awarded the 2024 Brian Barry Prize. Barry's work, a model of clarity, engagement with empirical research, and strength of conviction, has always been a source of inspiration. He was both a staunch defender of freedom of expression and an advocate for empowering citizens to shape their common life. In his paper ‘The Continuing Relevance of Socialism’, Barry noted that the champions of unregulated markets like Thatcher limit basic liberties, despite their self-proclaimed commitment to individual liberty. But this was not paradoxical, despite appearances, because “Even under the most repressive conditions conditions—in Soweto or the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, say—people seek to act collectively in order to improve things for themselves, and it requires an enormous exercise of brutal coercion in order to fragment these efforts at organization and force people to pursue their interests individually”. This observation underscores the intimate connection between freedom and collective agency, while highlighting threats to both even in democratic societies. My paper, which argues for the role of freedom of expression as a source of collective power, aims to combine these two commitments and remind us why freedom of expression has been cherished by disadvantaged groups."
– Assistant Professor Faik Kurtulmuş, August 2024
Previous winners
2023 Professor Göran Duus-Otterström, for his essay 'Emissions Sufficientarianism and Climate Justice'
2022 Associate Professor Chiara Cordelli, for her essay 'Freeing People, Restricting Capital'
2021 not awarded
2020 Associate Professor Jonathan Havercroft, University of Southampton, for 'Why is there no just riot theory?'
2019 Dr Andre Santos Campos, Nova University of Lisbon, for "Representing the Future: The Interests of Future Persons in Representative Democracy"
2018 Dr Zeynep Pamuk, St John's College, University of Oxford, for "Justifying Public Funding for Science"
2017 Dr Jonathan White, London School of Economics and Political Science, for "The Ethics of Political Alliance"
2016 Professor William Roberts Clark, Texas A&M University, Professor Matt Golder, Pennsylvania State University, and Professor Sona N. Golder, Pennsylvania State University for "An Exit, Voice, and Loyalty Model of Politics"
2015 Dr Parashar Kulkarni, New York University, for "Are There Cultural Prerequisites to Effective Property Rights?: Evidence from Inheritance Rights of Widows in Colonial India"
2014 Dr Helder De Schutter, KU Leuven, and Dr Lea Ypi, LSE, for "Mandatory Citizenship for Immigrants"