Polish academic and activist Joanna Kusiak is the recipient of the US$ 100,000 biennial Nine Dots Prize. The award also includes a publication contract with Cambridge University Press, the Nine Dots Prize official website informed.
The Nine Dots Prize aims to reward original thinking relevant to contemporary societal issues. “Each Prize cycle lasts two years, with a new question announced every October. The entrants’ task is to respond to it with a 3,000-word essay and a book proposal. This year’s question Why has the rule of law become so fragile? brought 600 submissions from over 50 countries”, The Independent, a British online newspaper, reported.
"The rule of law promises that all people are free and equal, yet too often it fails to deliver on its promise, getting entangled by power. My book, provisionally titled Radically Legal, showcases how social movements in Berlin and Warsaw work with the law to renew its emancipatory potential", said Kusiak commenting on her award. "My proposal was the work of love, and I feel elevated by winning the Nine Dots Prize. I am a scholar-activist, which means I only engage with socially important topics", she added.
Joanna's essay was selected out of some 800 entries to the competition, funded by the Kadas Foundation. Her book, temporarily entitled Radiaclly Legal, will be published in English by Cambridge University Press, as well as in German and Polish. "It will showcase how social movements in Berlin and Warsaw work with the law to renew its emancipatory potential", the Nine Dots Prize official website informed.
(aj)
Source: publishingperspectives.com; ninedotsprize.org, independent.co.uk
