Congratulations to Sarah Balakrishnan, whose CSSH essay “Prison of the Womb: Gender, Incarceration, and Capitalism on the Gold Coast of West Africa, c. 1500–1957” (65-2, 2023) recently won the 2023 Berkshire Conference of Women Historians Article Prize! The jury had the following praise for the article:
This stunning piece focuses on the carceral state in West Africa, from the early modern period into the twentieth century. The committee was struck particularly by the breadth and temporal scope of Balakrishnan’s research. Her study highlights the various forms of incarceration that could be faced, particularly by women, in counterpoint to the “official” forms in the colonial state. That this is an area that has not been studied thus far demonstrates the importance of a gendered lens on history, and how much colleagues like Balakrishnan are pushing the field forward.
Brava!