About the 2021 Hodson Prize winner
The Round Table is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2021 Hodson Prize is Andrew Yu, for his essay, ‘Hong Kong, CANZUK, and Commonwealth: The United Kingdom’s role in defending freedom and the global order under “Global Britain”’.
Andrew is a PhD candidate in the Celtic and Scottish Studies department at the University of Edinburgh, researching Scottish bagpiping history and culture in former British colonies in the Far East (Hong Kong and British Malaya). In response to recent political developments and the enforcement of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, his research has also studied how this colonial legacy can survive in post-colonial Hong Kong, as the Hong Kong Government has been accelerating the decolonisation process in recent years. Apart from his ethnomusicological research, his research interests also include social policy, politics, colonialism, and nationalism. Some of his works relating to Hong Kong have been published in Asian Affairs, Human Affairs, and the Journal of British Studies.
About the 2020 Hodson Prize winner
The winner of the 2020 Hodson Prize is Kiraan Chetty, for their essay, ‘Global Justice, Foreign Policy, and the Law of Peoples: A Rawlsian Defence of the Commonwealth’. The Round Table (2021), 110/2, pp 264-9.
Kiraan Chetty has a BA in Philosophy, Politics and International Relations from the University of Auckland. Interested in political philosophy, ethics, and philosophical theology – and with particular interest in their intersections – they will be exploring these topics in a postgraduate honours degree in 2021. Kiraan is a South African New Zealander so while the privileged choice between the Springboks and the All Blacks is routinely a tough one, they reckon it is never as tough as it is to be a Wallabies supporter.
2018 – Oliver Parker – ‘Canadian Concerns of a Different Kind of Brexit: Britain’s First Application to the EEC and Canada’s Commonwealth Appeal’. The Round Table (2019), 108/1, pp 81-5 Read the abstract.
Oliver is a graduate student specialising in economic history with research interests in trade policy, imperial preference during the interwar period, and Edwardian-era private investment in Canada. He is currently studying for a Masters in History and Economics at the University of Bayreuth in Bavaria, Germany, and has previously studied at the University of Ottawa. He has twice previously published papers in Clio, the undergraduate journal of history at the University of Ottawa. In the future, he hopes to continue his work on imperial preference and Commonwealth protectionist trade policy.
2017 – Harriet Aldrich – ‘The Commonwealth, Apartheid, and the role of Micro-states’, The Round Table (2018), 107/3, pp 341-6 Read the abstract.
Harriet is an AHRC-funded PhD student at the University of Oxford. She has studied at Durham and Cambridge universities, and her work focuses on modern African history in a global context. She is currently working on a thesis entitled ‘The Condition of Exile: Ghanaian Exile Networks and Competing Nationalisms, 1957-1993’.
2011 – Matthew Graham – ‘Foreign Policy in Transition: The ANC’s search for a foreign policy direction during South Africa’s transition, 1990-1994’
The Round Table, 422 (2011), pp 405-423 Read the abstract
Matthew Graham is a Lecturer in History at the University of Dundee (see http://www.dundee.ac.uk/history/staff/profile/matthew-graham). He writes: ‘Winning the Hodson Prize in 2011 was a fantastic honour, and one which I believe really got my academic career started. Receiving any award is amazing, but to have an article submission based on a chapter from my then still on-going PhD project recognised by a panel from an internationally prestigious journal was a great encouragement to me. The Hodson Prize gave me greater confidence in my research and writing abilities, while also proving to be a very helpful distinguishing point on my CV when applying for lecturing posts; gaining the award was certainly beneficial in helping me get my current post at the University of Dundee. Furthermore, the presentation at the Round Table dinner was an excellent opportunity to meet and network with lots of people from across the Commonwealth’.
2009 – Natasha Price – ‘Integrating ‘Return’ With ‘Recovery’: Utilising the Return Process in the Transition to Positive Peace: A Case Study of Sri Lanka’
The Round Table, 410 (2010), pp. 529-545 Read the abstract
Natasha Price is Head of Policy, Global Health Security, at the UK Department of Health. Previously she was a Senior Policy Adviser and Head of the Mutuals Support Programme at the Cabinet Office.
2008 – Beth Kreling – ‘India and the Commonwealth’
The Round Table, 400 (2009), pp. 49-66 Read the abstract
Beth Kreling is currently Global Health Initiative Manager at the London School of Economics, having previously worked for a variety of organisations including Oxford Analytica, Link Community Development International and the Commonwealth Secretariat. She writes: ‘I think that I can genuinely say that the Hodson prize has in part led me to where I am today. I applied for the prize because I had come across the Round Table whilst researching my Master’s thesis on India and the Commonwealth. Winning the prize, and the process of interviewing people to write my submission, introduced me to a wealth of Commonwealth organisations and individuals and drew me into a much longer term engagement with the Commonwealth. This has included a number of years managing the Commonwealth Consortium for Education, consultancy work for the Commonwealth Secretariat, presenting at Conferences of Commonwealth Education Ministers and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings, and my involvement with the editorial board of the Round Table. There is no doubt that my Commonwealth engagement helped me to make the career shift from strategy consultancy to international development, and that it has provided me with a network of contacts and opportunities that I continue to use in my work today. Looking back it has been far more influential than I ever anticipated. Thank you Harry Hodson!’
2006 – Ingrid Barnsley – ‘Dealing with change: Australia, Canada and the Kyoto Protocol to the Framework Convention on climate change’
The Round Table, 385 (2006), pp. 399-410 Read the abstract
Ingrid Barnsley is Head of International Partnerships and Initiatives at the International Energy Agency, having also served as Special Adviser to the Executive Director. Previously she worked for the global law firm Baker & McKenzie and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and taught at the American University of Paris and San Diego Law School. See http://tfm.unu.edu/author/ingrid-barnsley.
2006 – Line E Gissel – ‘From Links of Iron to Slender Rope: Essays in the Empire and Commonwealth Essay Prize Competition’
The Round Table, 388 (2007), pp. 37-49 Read the abstract
Line Gissel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Business at Roskilde University, Denmark. See http://rucforsk.ruc.dk/site/en/persons/line-engbo-gissel(04646a87-f821-4e19-8e2f-a3a28e924305).html.
2005 – Zoë Ware – ‘Reassessing Labour’s Relationship with Sub-Saharan Africa’
The Round Table, 383 (2006), pp. 141-52 Read the abstract
Zoë Ware works for the UK Department for International Development, though currently she is on secondment to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She writes: ‘Applying for, and subsequently winning the Hodson Prize helped set me on track for my current career. My International Relations tutor knew about the prize and suggested I edit one of my final year undergraduate essays to enter. I hadn’t written an academic article before so the exercise was useful in learning to write in a different style. After I won the Hodson prize, I attended a few Round Table and Commonwealth conferences which helped lead to a brief internship at a think tank. I then spent a couple of years working for an NGO overseas, and returned to the UK to work for the Royal Commonwealth Society. Five years after graduating, I succeeded in passing the civil service Fast Stream assessment. I’m sure that my international experience, kicked off by winning the Hodson prize, helped get me placed in DFID. Since then I’ve worked on Europe, as a Private Secretary to Ministers, and have managed programmes in Afghanistan. Now I work on Africa at the FCO. I really recommend applying for the Hodson Prize – there is no harm in giving it a go, and if you win it will be a great boost to your CV’.
2003 – Robert Colvile – ‘A Place to Stand: The Problems and Potential of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group’
The Round Table, 375 (2004), pp. 343-53 Read the abstract
Robert Colvile, a former leader writer and assistant editor for the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, is now a freelance author, journalist and commentator. See http://www.robertcolvile.com/.
2001 – Amrita Narlikar – ‘The Politics of Participation: Decision-Making Processes and Developing Countries in the WTO’
The Round Table, 364 (2002), pp. 171-185 Read the abstract
Amrita Narlikar is a former Reader in International Political Economy at the University of Cambridge, and is now President of the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies and Professor in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences at the University of Hamburg. See https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/team/narlikar.
