The winners of the first annual Social Policy Association Awards were announced last week at the conference dinner of the association’s annual conference in Birmingham. This year’s winners were:
Best Newcomer
This award was for a lecturer or researcher who was within five years of their first post-graduation post, and who was judged to have made a significant early contribution to the field of social policy. In the face of very strong competition for this award the judges took the decision to make two awards in this category.
The first, nominated by Robert Page and Caroline Glendinning, went to Dr Jon Glasby, senior lecturer at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham. Jon worked as a social worker in an NHS setting prior to completing his PhD in 2002. He was responsible for creating and leading HSMC’s partnerships programme, which is now one of the leading UK centres for teaching, research and development with regard to inter-agency collaboration. He has an emerging international reputation as a scholar in his field, having published to date 9 books and 26 peer-reviewed articles, as well as contributed to a number of ESRC seminar series and Department of Health funded studies. He has been appointed to the board of the national Social Care Institute for Excellence, sits on the editorial board of three journals and frequently provides policy advice to government on health and social care.
The second award, nominated by Louise Brown and Ruth Lister, went to Dr Tess Ridge, lecturer at the University of Bath. Tess completed her PhD in 2002 and was then awarded a 3 year ESRC Fellowship. She has secured five major research grants within the last five years, and has already made a significant contribution to her field, having secured a Visiting Fellowship to the Australian Institute for Family Studies and produced over 17 publications in under five years. She was one of the lead organizers of the 2005 Social Policy Association’s annual conference at the University of Bath, and her contribution to the field of social policy also includes her work with the Child Poverty Action Group, and her role as the incoming secretary of the Social Policy Association.
Best New Publication
This was awarded to David M Smith, for his book ‘On the Margins of Inclusion: Changing labour markets and social inclusion in London’. Nominated by Dave Byrne and John Macnicol, David’s book was published in 2005 by Policy Press to great critical acclaim. One reviewer noted that "In the plethora of books and reports dealing with social exclusion/inclusion this book stands out. The sensitive and intelligent ethnography allows the outer London working class to speak for themselves and shows how social and economic change intersects with their lives. For anyone who wants to understand how people live in a post-industrial global city, this book is a must read." An ethnographic study of the ways in which different groups of economically marginalised people living in London have responded to labour market and welfare changes, particularly the way in which they have organised themselves collectively to combat social exclusion, his book stands out from other similar studies in that it gives marginalised people a real voice, and is beautifully and accessibly written. One of the judges commented that his book was an excellent example of social policy analysis, with empirical data being used to explore key issues and provide the basis for theoretical development.
Lifetime Achievement
This award was intended for a person whom the judges felt had: made persistent contributions to research and organisation (of major conferences, influential reports, SPA Exec posts, etc.) that has raised the external profile of the subject; and achieved recognition by non-academics with interest in social policy - journalists, campaigners and lobbyists, activists, user communities; and an acknowledged international reputation, as measured in terms of translations, citations, projects, academic posts; and made contributions to professional bodies and associations; and had an impact on political process/discourse (advisor to government, consultant to voluntary bodies/local government etc.); and achieved esteem measured in terms of journal editing/establishing, promotion of social policy within other social sciences, membership of research councils or similar bodies. No easy task! However, there was overwhelming agreement with the judges’ decision to present this award to Adrian Sinfield, emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh. Nominated by Ruth Lister, John Veit-Wilson, Fran Bennett, Paul Dornan and Jonathan Bradshaw, in an area where several noted people have made significant achievements in academic circles, in representing the social policy association and in informing policy, Adrian stands out as having made an outstanding contribution in all three areas. He is academically acknowledged as an international expert in social security, poverty and social divisions in welfare, with an honorary doctorate and several visiting professorships to his name, as well as being a member of the Academy of Learned Societies. He has also worked tirelessly to support the discipline of social policy through the Social Policy Association, both as its Chair between 1986 and 89 and Honorary President between 1996 and 2001. He has acted as an advisor to national and international policy makers through the DSS, UN, EC and ILO, and through his work with the Child Poverty Action Group he has made a significant impact on the lives of children living in poverty. Finally, Adrian is admired in the profession as a man of extreme compassion and humility. He eschews formal titles as he feels they create unnecessary divisions, and has been an inspiration to generations of social policy academics and campaigners. His achievement was recognized by a full page profile in the education pages of The Guardian this week.
A fuller report on the awards ceremony will be carried in the forthcoming issue of Policy World along with nomination forms for next year's awards. If you have any comments about the awards please email the SPA Awards Officer, Kirstein Rummery, at Kirstein.Rummery@manchester.ac.uk.