About the J. Willard Hurst Prize:
In the spirit of Willard Hurst's own work, the Hurst Prize is given to the best work (in English) in socio-legal history published in the previous year, and self-nominations are accepted. The field of socio-legal history is broadly defined to include the history of interrelationships between law and social, economic, and political change; the history of functions and impact of legal agencies, legislative and administrative as well as judicial; the social history of the legal profession; and similar topics.Recent winners include John Witt, Daniel Sharfstein, Amy Chazkel, Inga Markovits, Christopher Tomlins, and Peggy Pascoe. The full list is here.
Textbooks, casebooks, and edited collections are not eligible for the award, but monographs will be considered. The Association seeks studies in legal history that explore the relationship between law and society or illuminate the use, function, and cultural meaning of law and society. The Association discourages submission of purely doctrinal studies in the evolution of appellate case law.
About the Herbert Jacob Book Prize:
Established in 1996 as the LSA Book Award, and re-named in memory of Herbert Jacob, past President of LSA, the competition is open to books from all fields of, and approaches to, law and society scholarship—excluding only works of socio-legal history, which are considered for the Hurst award—published in the prior year, and self-nominations are accepted.
Herbert Jacob was the founder of the first internet book review in the field, Law and Politics Book Review, a creative, energetic scholar who took on a wide variety of questions and issues, and a warm human being whose own work has been a major contribution to the field of law and society. The award is intended to recognize new, outstanding work in law and society scholarship.
Nominations are accepted from all aspects of the field and any country of origin and may include first books of young scholars to books that are capstones of long careers in law and society research and publication.Recent winners include Mariana Valverdem, Kaaryn S. Gustafson, Joshua Pag, Yves Dezalay, and Bryant Garth.
Deadline: December 15, 2013. More information is available here.
