A “sophisticated and complex” book that offers new insights into the way that central banks work has won a prestigious sociology book award.

Central Banks in Organizational Networks: Entangled Market Actors, by Dr Christoph Wu, won the Philip Abrams Memorial Prize yesterday [Thursday 13 April].

Dr Wu drew on his prior career in investment management and hedge funds when writing the book, which includes interviews with senior investment professionals and an in-depth look at the quantitative easing programmes of the European Central Bank. 

The book shows that social structures shape decision-making and that the sociology of institutions continues to be a necessary part of the discipline. For more details: https://tinyurl.com/yckjj7aj

Dr Wu, of the Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, was given the award by the President of the British Sociological Association, Professor Gurminder Bhambra, at the BSA’s annual conference in Manchester on Thursday (13 April).

Professor Bhambra said the book, published by Routledge, was “a very sophisticated and complex project that triangulates its findings to build its analysis. It is an excellent piece of research, well thought out and executed, and makes a significant intervention across the fields of social studies of finance and organisational sociology.”

The Philip Abrams Memorial Prize is given each year by the BSA to a researcher’s best first and sole-authored book within the discipline of sociology. It was established in honour of Professor Philip Abrams (1933-1981), whose work contributed substantially to sociology and social policy research in Britain. 

The other books shortlisted for the prize were: The Everyday Lives of Gay Men in Hainan: Sociality, Space and Time (Palgrave Macmillan), by James Cummings; and Fighting Identity: An Ethnography of Kickboxing in East London (Routledge), by Amit Singh. 

The British Sociological Association’s annual conference is taking place at the University of Manchester from 12-14 April 2023. More than 700 research presentations are given.

 For more information, please contact: 

Tony Trueman
British Sociological Association
Tel: 0044 (0) 7964 023392 
tony.trueman@britsoc.org.uk

Notes:

The British Sociological Association’s charitable aim is to promote sociology. It is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company Number: 3890729. Registered Charity Number 1080235 www.britsoc.co.uk