Bennie Kara receives Sage Social Justice Book Award
The inaugural Sage Social Justice Book Award, which comes with a £1,500 prize, has been awarded to Bennie Kara, author of A Little Guide for Teachers: Diversity in Schools. Authors Anamik Saha and Prospera Tedam have been named as runners up. SAGE Publishing has launched the new award to celebrate authors whose work is committed to social justice and furthering diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
SAGE editors in the UK were invited to nominate titles published within the last year that addressed a topical issue, met a timely market need, represented diversity, made an impact on the market, or offered a unique perspective.
The internal judging panel— Ziyad Marar, Sage’s President of Global Publishing, Kiren Shoman, Vice President, Editorial Pedagogy, and Katie Metzler, Vice President, Social Science Innovation —commended Kara’s Diversity in Schools for the importance and wide-ranging impact of the subject matter, the innovative format, and how Kara’s lived experiences informed the book’s narrative and advice to readers.
Kiren Shoman said: "At Sage, we believe that education and research are fundamental to a healthy society. Driven by the vision of our founder, Sara Miller McCune, a commitment to social justice is at the heart of what we do. All the shortlisted titles are excellent examples of books that are pushing the conversation forward and Sage is passionate about supporting these ideas as part of our commitment to publish and amplify content from diverse perspectives. Our winner stood out as demonstrating innovative publishing that is having a direct impact on how diversity is taught in schools. We are incredibly proud to have published this title and would also like to recognize the excellent commissioning work being done by its editor, Delayna Spencer.”
Diversity in Schools provides starting points for teachers and school leaders to create a curriculum that is as deep and diverse as their students. Building a narrative informed by her own lived experiences, Kara calls on the reader to reflect on their actions and words, and to create a culture where diversity informs every aspect of their teaching and school culture. This is a little book that’s having a huge impact on the teaching sector, by providing a powerful way for teachers to open DEI conversations in schools.
Runner up: Anamik Saha – Race, Culture and Media
This book puts race at the center of media and cultural studies. Saha takes an integrative approach that challenges the reader to move beyond simplistic notions of representation or diversity in the media industry, to a broader, critical discussion of the complexities of these issues that is essential reading for students and researchers across media, communication, and cultural studies.
Tedam offers a timely and personal perspective on social work practice, providing students with a framework to explore how anti-oppressive approaches can be realized in practice with a range of social groups. The book plays an important part in building an anti-oppressive workforce for the future by teaching students the self-awareness and critical knowledge needed to practice fairly and without discrimination.