Christopher Coker History Research Prize 2026
Christopher Coker History Research Prize 2026
The Christopher Coker History Research Prize 2026, organised by the Rațiu Forum in partnership with LSE IDEAS, honours the legacy of Professor Christopher Coker (1953–2023), former Director and co-director of LSE IDEAS and a key figure in the development of the LSE IDEAS–Rațiu Forum partnership. Formerly known as the Rațiu Forum History Prize, the award encourages emerging researchers from Romania and the wider region to critically examine complex historical questions and explore how the past continues to shape contemporary political and social realities.
The 2026 prize was awarded to Lavinia-Georgiana Marcu for her research on neo-Legionary symbolism and memory in Romanian underground hip-hop. Her paper, Reworking the Interwar Past: Neo-Legionary Symbolism and Memory in Romanian Underground Hip-Hop, examines how contested historical narratives are reinterpreted in contemporary culture.