SAGE Prize for Innovation/Excellence

The SAGE Prize for Innovation and Excellence is awarded annually to one paper in each of the BSA's prestigious journals: Cultural Sociology, Sociological Research Online, Sociology and Work, Employment and Society.

The prize will be awarded to the paper published in the previous year's volume judged to represent innovation or excellence in the field.

The prize is £250 worth of SAGE books or a free annual individual subscription to a journal of the winner's choice. All nominees for the prize will receive publicity from the BSA and SAGE Publications, and winners' papers will receive a period of free electronic access to their article (to encourage usage and citation). 

Click here for more information about the prize and judging process.

2023 Winners

Sociology

• Leah Gilman - The ‘Selfish Element’: How Sperm and Egg Donors Construct Plausibly Moral Accounts of the Decision to Donate

Cultural Sociology

• Taylor, A. (2022) - Audience Agency in Social Performance. Cultural Sociology, 16(1), 68–85.

Sociological Research Online

• Karen Cuthbert, Joseph J Hall, Sally Hines, Kim Allen, and Sharon Elley. (2022) - Hearing, Policing, and Using Gender Diversity: The Role of Institutional Gatekeepers in Researching Youth and Gender. Sociological Research Online, 27(3). 763-786. 

Work, Employment & Society

The joint winners are:

• Laaser Knut and Karlsson, Jan Ch. - Towards a Sociology of Meaningful Work Work, Employment and Society, 36(5): 798–815; and
• Shahadat, Khandakar, & Uddin, Shahzad - Labour Controls, Unfreedom and Perpetuation of Slavery on a Tea Plantation Work, Employment and Society, 36(3), 522–538

2023 Nominees

Sociology

• Mike Foden, Emma Head, Tally Katz-Gerro and Lydia Martens - Environment or Economy? Food Concerns and Sustainable Food Transitions in the UK
• Victoria Redclift, Fatima Rajina and Naaz Rashid - The Burden of Conviviality: British Bangladeshi Muslims Navigating Diversity in London, Luton and Birmingham
• Rachel Humphris - Homemade State: Motherhood, Citizenship and the Home in Child Welfare Encounters
• Anna Clot-Garrell - Boundaries in the Making: Transformations in Erving Goffman’s Total Institution through the Case of a Female Benedictine Monastery
• Ana Alacovska - The Wageless Life of Creative Workers: Alternative Economic Practices, Commoning and Consumption Work in Cultural Labour
• Leah Gilman - The ‘Selfish Element’: How Sperm and Egg Donors Construct Plausibly Moral Accounts of the Decision to Donate

Cultural Sociology

• Holmqvist, M. (2021) - Consecrating and Desecrating Elite Communities: Fearing and Dealing with Social Deviance in Sweden’s Wealthiest Neighborhood. Cultural Sociology, 16(3), 358-378. 
• Otto, N., Johnston, J., and Baumann, S. (2021) - Moral Entrepreneurialism for the Hamburger: Strategies for Marketing a Contested Fast Food. Cultural Sociology, 16(2), 190-211.
• Taylor, A. (2022) - Audience Agency in Social Performance. Cultural Sociology, 16(1), 68–85.
• Undurraga, T., Güell, P., & Fergnani, M. (2022) - ‘Supertanker is a Hero, the Government a Villain’: Politicization of Chile’s 2017 Forest Fires in the Media. Cultural Sociology, 16(4), 527–547. 

Sociological Research Online

• Sarah Milton and Kaveri Qureshi. (2020) - Reclaiming the Second Phase of Life? Intersectionality, Empowerment and Respectability in Midlife Romance. Sociological Research Online, 27(1), 27-42.
• Robert de Vries and Aaron Reeves. (2022) - What Does it Mean to be a Cultural Omnivore? Conflicting Visions of Omnivorousness in Empirical Research. Sociological Research Online, 27(2), 292-312.
• Mattia Vacchiano. (2022). Nine Mechanisms of Job-Searching and Job-Finding Through Contacts Among Young Adults. Sociological Research Online, 27(2), 361–378.
• James Pickles. (2021) - Supporting LGBT+ People Experiencing Hate: Perspectives from LGBT+ Youth and Community Workers. Sociological Research Online, 27(2), 396-414.
• Karen Cuthbert, Joseph J Hall, Sally Hines, Kim Allen, and Sharon Elley. (2022) - Hearing, Policing, and Using Gender Diversity: The Role of Institutional Gatekeepers in Researching Youth and Gender. Sociological Research Online, 27(3). 763-786. 
• Agata Stasińska. (2022) - Lost (and Found) in Translation – Queer ‘Wedding-Engagement’ Tactics in Poland. Sociological Research Online, 27(4), 984-1002.

Work, Employment and Society

• Benassi, Chiara, & Vlandas, Tim - Trade unions, bargaining coverage and low pay: A multilevel test of institutional effects on low-pay risk in Germany Work, Employment and Society, 36(6), 1018-1037

• Porter, Tom, Shakespeare, Tom & Stockl, Andrea - Trouble in Direct Payment Personal Assistance Relationships Work, Employment & Society, 36,4

•  Laaser Knut and Karlsson, Jan Ch. - Towards a Sociology of Meaningful Work Work, Employment and Society, 36(5): 798–815

• Harrison, Patricia, Collins, Helen, & Bahor, Alexandra - ‘We Don’t Have the Same Opportunities as Others’: Shining Bourdieu’s Lens on UK Roma Migrants’ Precarious (Workers’) Habitus Work, Employment and Society, 36(2), 217–234

• Eckhard, Jan - Gender Differences in the Social Consequences of Unemployment: How Job Loss Affects the Risk of Becoming Socially Isolated Work, Employment and Society, 36(1), 3–20.

• Shahadat, Khandakar, & Uddin, Shahzad - Labour Controls, Unfreedom and Perpetuation of Slavery on a Tea Plantation Work, Employment and Society, 36(3), 522–538

Visit the SAGE Prize Winners Archive to see previous winners details.