Manchester University Press publication shortlisted for The British Academy Book Prize for Global Understanding
Manchester University Press are pleased to announce that their recent publication, The violence of colonial photography by Daniel Foliard, has been shortlisted for The British Academy Book Prize for Global Understanding.
Since the launch of their trade list in 2020, MUP’s trade publications have gone from strength to strength, receiving praise from high-profile authors, politicians and journalists, and being named in best books lists by the likes of The Financial Times, The Guardian and WIRED. MUP’s commitment to publishing thought-provoking, intellectually stimulating titles has propelled us to this significant moment.
The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for humanities and social sciences, and eligible books come from the subjects that fall within those disciplines, from archaeology, history and psychology to philosophy, languages and cultural studies. The British Academy Book Prize, worth £25,000, is awarded annually for a non-fiction book that promotes global cultural understanding.
A shortlist event will be held on 30 October where the six shortlisted authors will be joined by award-winning journalist Rosie Goldsmith for an exploration of urgent and globally significant topics.
Daniel Foliard is a Professor of Modern History at Universite Paris Cite. Of his being shortlisted for the prize, he said: “I feel deeply honoured to be shortlisted for the British Academy Book Prize. To be listed alongside such excellent books is very exciting. The prize’s focus on global understanding and the difficult sites of our shared histories really means a lot to me. It resonates with what drove my research and writing along the years.”
The violence of colonial photography draws on a wealth of visual materials, from soldiers’ personal albums to the collections of press agencies and government archives, to offer a new account of how conflict photography developed in the decades before the First World War. It explores the ways the camera was used to impose order on subject populations in Africa and Asia and to generate propaganda for the public in Europe, where a visual economy of violence was rapidly taking shape. At the same time, the book reveals how photographs could escape the intentions of their creators, offering a means for colonial subjects to push back against oppression.
The book was originally published in French by Éditions La Découverte. The English edition was published in November 2022 by Manchester University Press.
Manchester University Press’ (MUP) mission is to be recognized globally for the excellence of their publishing, advancing research and learning for the benefit of society and the wider environment. Building upon their rich history, situated in the heart of one of the most vibrant universities and cities in the UK, MUP has been a beacon of scholarly achievement since its founding in 1903.
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