Agarwal Book Prize

Photo by Ravi Agarwal

The Suraj Mal and Shyama Devi Agarwal Book Prize was established by Bina Agarwal (IAFFE’s first President from the Global South) to honor her late parents, who, throughout their lives and with great generosity, supported young women to pursue their dreams of higher education and chart out a path of intellectual excellence. The Prize is a testament to the enduring legacy of Bina's parents and their commitment to promoting gender equality in the global economy. The Agarwal Book Prize acknowledges books that showcase original avenues in theory, methodology, empirical analysis, and policy with regard to any facet of gender and the economy, across any geographical region.

Call for Nominations: Suraj Mal and Shyama Devi Agarwal Book Prize, 2027 

Deadline for submissions: 30 May 2026

The International Association For Feminist Economics is pleased to announce the fifth round of the Suraj Mal and Shyama Devi Agarwal Book Prize, to be awarded biennially to a work of original scholarship in the field of feminist economics.
The prize was established by Bina Agarwal (IAFFE’s first President from the Global South) in honor of her late parents, Suraj Mal and Shyama Devi Agarwal. Throughout their lives, they generously supported young women in pursuing their dreams of higher education and in forging paths of intellectual excellence.

The prize recognizes outstanding books that open new pathways in theory, methodology, empirical analysis, or policy on any aspect of gender and the economy, and relating to any region of the world. Eligible submissions include books written in English, including interdisciplinary works, as long as they fall within the broad ambit of gender and the economy. Books may be single- or dual-authored, however, multi-authored volumes, edited collections, and textbooks are not eligible.

The prize carries an honorarium of USD 1,000, along with a formal citation describing the book’s merits. In addition, up to USD 1,500 will be available to support the prize winner’s travel expenses to attend the award ceremony at the IAFFE Annual Conference 2027, in Okayama, Japan. The prize winner will be invited to give a presentation or participate in a conference event related to the book’s subject. In the case of a dual-authored book, both the honorarium and travel support will be shared between the authors.

For this round of the prize, to be awarded at the IAFFE Annual Conference, books published during the 2024 and 2025 calendar years are eligible. Nominations may be submitted by publishers, authors, or other interested parties.

Nominators must complete and submit the Nomination Form 2027, and upload a digital version of the nominated book as part of the submission process. Submissions must be received by May 30, 2026. No extensions will be granted.
If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Mayra Gonçalves at [email protected].
Mayra Coelho Gonçalves

Nomination Form  

 2025 Agarwal Book Prize Winner! 

Ayse Arslan’s book: Women’s Productive and Reproductive Labour: Class and Gender Inequalities in Turkey (Routledge Studies in Gender and Economics, 2023) won the 2025 Suraj Mal and Shyama Devi Agarwal Book Prize. Warmest congratulations to Dr. Arslan for her outstanding achievement! The award was presented at IAFFE’s 33rd Annual Conference held at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst on July 4. Watch the Prize ceremony here and read the book’s citation here.

 

The Prize Committee (the Jury) consisted of Maria S. Floro, Professor Emerita of Economics, American University (Chair); Uma Rani, Senior Economist, International Labour Organization; and Hema Swaminathan, Senior Gender Economist, Asian Development Bank. We are immensely grateful to the jury members for their generous contributions of time and effort to select a winner, from a large body of books on “gender and the economy” published in calendar years 2022 and 2023. We also thank the publishers and authors who submitted books for consideration.

 2023 Agarwal Book Prize

Joanna Rostek was awarded the Suraj Mal and Shyama Devi Agarwal Book Prize for her book Women’s Economic Thought in the Romantic Age. The Book Prize Committee was very impressed by Rostek's work as it offers a groundbreaking analysis and effectively incorporates women's perspectives into the history of economic thought. Read the full citation here.

Watch the Book Prize recording from the 2023 IAFFE Annual Conference, and you can read the full citation here

Prize Committee | Carmen Diana Deere, Maria “Sergy” Floro, and Jane Humphries

Past winners
You can watch Agarwal book prize ceremony held at our AnnualConference in Quito 2021 here

 

Caroline Hossein on winning the Suraj Mal and Shyama Devi Book Prize in 2019 
“Winning the Agarwal book prize in 2019 validated that my book Politicized Microfinance mattered. I knew that my work was valued when it won the 2018 Du Bois Book Award. But the Agarwal book award was life changing – this award gave me the courage to apply for a new job and leave a difficult workplace. I am humbled to have received the book award. I thank the reviewers for their labour and the generous citation and thank Bina for setting up this wonderful IAFFE award inhonour of her late parents.”