This award is named in recognition of the contributions of Charles Taylor to the advancement of interpretive thinking in the political and social sciences. In his 1971 essay “Interpretation and the Sciences of Man,” Taylor powerfully critiqued the aspiration to model the study of politics on the natural sciences, and he cogently explained how “interpretation is essential to explanation” in the human sciences. This essay, along with Taylor’s “Philosophical Papers” and many other articles, book chapters, and volumes, have long been a source of inspiration for scholars seeking to develop and apply an interpretive approach to the study of politics.

The award will be given to a book exploring any aspect of political life that either engages interpretive methodological issues or that reports the results of empirical research conducted using interpretive research methods. We will consider books of two types. The book can engage these ideas philosophically, in keeping with much of Professor Taylor’s work and the sense of ‘methodology’ as an expression and/or application of philosophical concerns, such as with ontological and epistemological issues. The book can also present empirical research, as long as it explicitly considers the methodological issues and concerns that arose in the conduct of the research. The book can be either a single- or multi-authored book or an edited volume.

The award will be announced and presented at the annual APSA conference during the business meeting or reception of the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods Conference-related Group (IMM CG). Books published in a two calendar year period prior to the year of the APSA meeting at which the award is presented are eligible; the book's copyright date will be treated as the year of publication (that is, books copyrighted in 2012 and 2013 will be eligible for consideration for the award to be presented at the 2014 meeting). The award committee will, however, be under no obligation to make an award in a year in which submissions do not merit such recognition.

To be considered for the 2014 award:





•       Authors may nominate their own work; nominations also will be accepted from readers and publishers.




•       Send the Committee Chair twluke@vt.edu e-mail notification that the book is being submitted.




•       One copy of the nominated book should be sent to each member of the award committee addresses are listed below.




•       Nominated books must be received by February 15.




Members of the award committee for 2014 are:




Chair Timothy W. Luke, Virginia Tech <twluke@vt.edu>
531 Major Williams Hall, 220 Stanger Street
Department of Political Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA  24061




Robert Adcock, George Washington University <adcockr@gwu.edu>
2115 G Street NW, Monroe Hall 440
Department of Political Science, George Washington University,
Washington, DC  20053








Dennis Galvan, University of Oregon <dgalvan@oregon.edu>
175 PLC Hall, International Studies Program
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR  97403-5206




Previous award winners:




2013:   Sharon Sliwinski, University of Western Ontario, Human Rights in Camera (University of Chicago Press, 2011).




2012:  No books considered.




2011:  No award presented.




2010:  Michael Loriaux, Northwestern University, for European Union and the Deconstruction of the Rhineland Frontier (Cambridge University Press, 2008).




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For information on contributing to the funding of this award, please contact Dvora Yanow (dvora.yanow@wur.nl )