Two School of Social Sciences colleagues become Fellows of the British Academy

Professors Georgina Waylen and Alan Warde from the School of Social Sciences (SoSS) have been made Fellows of the prestigious British Academy for the humanities and social sciences. They are among 76 distinguished scholars from across the UK and around the world to be elected to the fellowship in recognition of their work.

Georgina has been elected in recognition of her position as a leading scholar of Comparative Political Economy and Comparative Political Institutions, which she researches from a feminist, gendered perspective. She said: “It's a great honour to be recognised in this way by the British Academy. I have been researching on various aspects of gender and politics since the mid-1980s including transitions to democracy in Latin America and South Africa. More recently, I completed a five-year European Research Council Advanced Grant on understanding institutional change from a gender perspective last year. I brought my ERC grant to Manchester in 2012 because of its reputation for research, fantastic colleagues and great working atmosphere in the Department of Politics, and Social Sciences more generally, and I have not been disappointed.”

Alan has been elected in recognition of his work on the sociology of consumption, especially with respect to the analysis of food and eating. He said: “I am, of course, very pleased, not least because it gives recognition to the research conducted at the University on the sociology of consumption.”

Georgina and Alan join a community of over 1,400 of the leading minds that make up the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. Current Fellows include the classicist Dame Mary Beard, the historian Sir Simon Schama and philosopher Baroness Onora O’Neill, while previous Fellows include Sir Winston Churchill, C.S Lewis, Seamus Heaney and Beatrice Webb.

Professor Sir David Cannadine, President of the British Academy, said: “I am delighted to welcome this year’s exceptionally talented new Fellows to the Academy. Including historians and economists, neuroscientists and legal theorists, they bring a vast range of expertise, insights and experience to our most distinguished fellowship.”

Also recognised is Professor Elena Lieven from the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, for her lifetime’s work on child language acquisition.