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.

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. 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 December.

Publishers wishing to nominate books should send one copy of each book to each member of the Sprout Award Committee. The names and addresses of committee members are listed on the “officers” page of this site: http://environmental-studies.org/?page_id=5.

2009

Steve Vanderheiden, University of Colorado
Atmospheric Justice: A Political Theory of Climate Change
Oxford University Press
Runners-up:
Charlotte Epstein, University of Sydney: The Power of Words in International Relations: Birth of an Anti-Whaling Discourse. MIT Press
Matthew Paterson, University of Ottawa: Automobile Politics: Ecology and Cultural Political Economy. Cambridge University Press