We are delighted to announce that the Contemporary Political Theory Annual Prize for 2015 has been awarded to:

Lori Marso for her article ‘Solidarity sans identity: Richard Wright and Simone de Beauvoir theorize political subjectivity’, in Contemporary Political Theory, Volume 13, Number 3 (2014), pp. 242–262.

Lori Marso is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Union College, Schenectady, NY 12308, USA.

The judges’ citation was as follows:

In this article Lori Marso weaves rich theoretical insight into a gripping and moving narrative of the historical and intellectual encounter between Richard Wright and Simone de Beauvoir. Moving between France, Africa and the USA, Marso charts the intellectual journeys of both thinkers and their eventual rejection of the constraints of identity in favor of an existential freedom anchored in a solidarity that crosses identities and borders. Theirs is a vision of collective action that takes seriously individual embodiment without being imprisoned by it, that finds political agency in the face of structures of oppression, and that embraces the possibilities of the new while remaining acutely aware of the past and present. Not only does the reader get a wonderfully deep sense of the real intellectual struggles both figures experienced in thinking through what freedom might mean for the black and female subject but the narrative also forces the reader to think in general terms about what this might mean for us today. In addition to intellectual biography and political philosophy the article also contains a powerful parable about the possibilities for and necessity of political solidarity between those fighting against both racial and gender injustice.

The judging panel was chaired by Professor Simone Chambers, University of California, Irvine, USA (formerly University of Toronto, Canada), and supported by Professor Duncan Ivison, University of Sydney, Australia, and Professor Karen Zivi, Grand Valley State University, USA.