A book by John Bowen, professor of anthropology and the Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, is one of two books to receive an honorable mention for the 2019 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies.
Bowen’s book was one of five named in December as being on the “short list” for the $10,000 prize, which is awarded annually by the The Nanovic Institute for European Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
One of the pre-eminent awards for European studies, the Shannon Prize honors “the best book that transcends a focus on any one country, state, or people to stimulate new ways of thinking about contemporary Europe as a whole.” This year’s cycle of the award considered books in history and social sciences published in 2016 or 2017.
The institute announced Jan. 17 that Max Bergholz won the 2019 prize for his book on “Violence as a Generative Force: Identity, Nationalism, and Memory in a Balkan Community” (Cornell University Press).
Bowen received an honorable mention for his book “On British Islam: Religion, Law, and Everyday Practice in Shariʿa Councils,” which Princeton University Press published in 2016. The book examines the history and everyday workings of Islamic institutions in Britain, with a focus on shariʿa councils.
The Shannon Prize jury commended Bowen’s book, calling it “a meticulous and erudite analysis of British Islam and its institutional manifestations.” Read the full news release.
