The Harold and Margaret Sprout Award
The Harold and Margaret Sprout Award was established in 1972 and named in honor of two pioneers in the study of international environmental problems. The award is given annually to the best book in the field – one that makes a contribution to theory and interdisciplinarity, shows rigor and coherence in research and writing, and offers accessibility and practical relevance. Nominated books should address some aspect of one or more environmental, pollution or resource issues from a broadly international or transnational perspective, including works in (for example) global, interstate, transboundary, North-South, foreign policy, comparative or area studies. Environmental subjects of books can include (for example) environmental law, diplomacy, transnational activism, natural resource use, global change, sustainable development, biodiversity, transboundary pollution control, and the like.
Recipients must meet the following criteria:
- Recipients must be a current member of ISA
- Nominated works must be published during the two years prior to the year they are nominated for. Books with a copyright date of the award year are welcome provided that they are released by the previous year’s end.
- Each publisher may nominate more than one book, and books nominated for the prior year can be re-nominated. The committee members will begin reading the books as soon as they arrive.
Prize
- A $500.00 (USD) cash prize and plaque is awarded to the recipient.
Selection process
The Award Committee consists of five (5) members plus the section chair of Environmental Studies Section (ESS) of ISA, serving rolling two-year terms as an ex-officio member. The Committee Chair is responsible for notifying the recipient of the award and encouraging the recipient to attend the Annual Convention at which the award is to be presented so as to receive the award in person. The Committee members will begin reading the books as soon as they arrive.
Apply for this award
Publishers wishing to nominate books should send one hard copy of each book to each member of the Sprout Award Committee. The names and current mailing addresses of committee members can be obtained by sending an email to the Sprout Committee Chair Janina Grabs at janina.grabs@unibas.ch.
Books should not be sent to the Sprout award committee prior to April of the year of nomination in order to ensure that all entries are received by the appropriate committee members who are elected at the ISA annual meeting. The committee must complete its review and reach its decision by the beginning of the award year in time for presentation of the award at the annual meeting of the ISA in February or March. Therefore, we need to receive notice of nominations and receive copies of nominated books by 1 August.
Past recipients
| Year | Recipient | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Joanne Yao | The Ideal River: How Control of Nature Shaped the International Order |
| 2023 | Cajetan Iheka | African Ecomedia: Network Forms, Planetary Politics |
| 2022 | Kate Neville | Fueling Resistance - The Contentious Political Economy of Biofuels and Fracking |
| 2021 (two winners) | Marwa Daoudy | The Origins of the Syrian Conflict |
| 2021 (two winners) | Michael Méndez | Climate Change from the Streets: How Conflict and Collaboration Strengthen the Environmental Justice Movement |
| 2020 | Jessica Steinberg | Mines, Communities and States: The Local Politics of Natural Resource Extraction in Africa. |
| 2019 (two winners) | Liliana Andonova | Governance Entrepreneurs: International Organizations and the Rise of Global Public-Private Partnerships (Cambridge UP) |
| 2019 (two winners) | Tim Bartley | Rules without Rights: Land, Labor and Private Authority in the Global Economy (Oxford UP) |
| 2018 | Carl Death | The Green State in Africa |
| 2017 | Thomas Princen, Jack P. Manno and Pamela L. Martin | Ending the Fossil Fuel Era |
| 2016 | Sikina Jinnah | Post-Treaty Politics: Secretariat Influence in Global Environmental Governance |
| 2015 | Jessica F. Green | Rethinking Private Authority: Agents and Entrepreneurs in Global Environmental Governance |
| 2014 | Joanna I. Lewis | Green Innovation in China: China’s Wind Power Industry and the Global Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy |
| 2014 | Jeannie L. Sowers (runner-up) | Environmental Politics in Egypt: Activists, Experts, and the State |
| 2013 | Andrew S. Mathews | Instituting Nature: Authority, Expertise, and Power in Mexican Forests |
| 2012 | Rob Nixon | Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor |
| 2011 | Daniel Bodansky | The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law |
| 2010 | D.G. Webster | Adaptive Governance: The Dynamics of Atlantic Fisheries Management |
| 2009 | Steve Vanderheiden | Atmospheric Justice: A Political Theory of Climate Change |
| 2008 | David Humphreys | Logjam: Deforestation and the Crisis of Global Governance |
| 2007 | Thomas Princen | The Logic of Sufficiency |
| 2006 | Ken Conca | Governing Water: Contentious Transnational Politics and Global Institution Building |
| 2005 | Benjamin Cashore | Governing Through Markets – Forest Certification and the Emergence of Non-State Authority |
| 2004 | Edward A. Parson | Protecting the Ozone Layer |
| 2003 | Thomas Princen | Confronting Consumption |
| 2002 | Paul F. Steinberg | Environmental Leadership in Developing Countries: Transnational Relations and Biodiversity Policy in Costa Rica and Bolivia |
| 2001 | Roni Garcia-Johnson | Exporting Environmentalism: U.S. Multinational Chemical Corporations in Brazil and Mexico |
| 2000 | Yok-shiu F. Lee/ Alvin Y. So | Asia’s Environmental Movements: Comparative Perspectives |
| 1999 | Nicholas Low and Brendan Gleeson | Justice, Society, and Nature: An Exploration of Political Ecology |
| 1998 | Peter Dauvergne | Shadows in the Forest: Japan and the Politics of Timber in Southeast Asia |
| 1997 | Paul Kevin Wapner | Environmental Activism and World Civic Politics |
| 1996 | Marian A. L. Miller | The Third World in Global Environmental Politics |
| 1995 | Ronald B. Mitchell | Intentional Oil Pollution at Sea: Environmental Policy and Treaty Compliance |
| 1994 | Oran R. Young and Gail Osherenko | Polar Politics: Creating International Environmental Regimes |
| 1993 | William R. Cline | The Economics of Global Warming |
| 1992 | Elinor Ostrom | Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action |
| 1991 | World Resources Institute and International Institute for Environment and Development | World Resources 1990-91: A Guide to the Global Environment |
| 1990 | H. Jeffrey Leonard | Pollution and the Struggle for the World Product: Multinational Corporations, Environment, and International Comparative Advantage |
| 1989 | Barbara Jancar-Webster | Environmental Management in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia: Structure and Regulation in Federal Communist States |
| 1986 | James K. Sebenius | Negotiating the Law of the Sea: Lessons in the Art and Science of Reaching Agreement |
| 1985 | Lynton Caldwell | International Environmental Policy: Emergence and Dimensions |
| 1981 | R. Michael McGonigle and Mark Zacher | Pollution, Politics, and International Law: Tankers at Sea |
| 1977 | Amory Lovins | Energy Strategy: The Road Not Taken |
| Jon M. Van Dyke, Durwood Zaelke and Grant Hewison | Freedom for the Seas in the 21st Century: Ocean Governance And Environmental Harmony | |
| Kenneth Dahlberg | Beyond the Green Revolution |