Professor Naila Kabeer Named Finalist for Major Open Access Book Prize

Renegotiating Patriarchy: Gender, Agency and the Bangladesh Paradox (LSE Press, 2024) by Professor Naila Kabeer has been shortlisted as a finalist for the 2026 ACLS Open Access Book Prizes and Arcadia Open Access Publishing Awards.

Announced on 21 May 2026 by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the awards recognise exceptional open access scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. Professor Kabeer’s book is among 30 titles selected globally, with five finalists in each of six categories.

The prizes, supported by Arcadia, celebrate innovative and accessible academic research published between 2019 and 2024. One winner will be selected in each category, with authors receiving a $20,000 prize and their publishers awarded $30,000 to support future open access publishing.

Professor Kabeer’s acclaimed work explores questions of gender, agency and social change in Bangladesh, contributing to wider debates on development and equality. Her inclusion among this year’s finalists highlights the continued impact of her scholarship and LSE’s commitment to advancing open, globally accessible research.

Winners will be announced in autumn 2026.