Tejas Parasher honoured with our 2024 Political Theory Prize

The 2024 Political Theory Prize for the best first book in the field has been awarded to Tejas Parasher (University of California) for his 'compelling' book, Radical Democracy in Modern Indian Political Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2023).

The Political Theory Prize awards an outstanding debut book in political theory written in English. Co-sponsored by the Contemporary Political Theory journal, the prize was conceived in collaboration with our Standing Groups on Kantian Political Thought, Political Theory and International Political Theory, and the convenors of our General Conference Section on Methodology of Political Theory.

The winning book offers a rich exploration of Indian radical democrats from the early to mid-20th century, presenting incredibly detailed and rigorous research for political theorists, both in its empirical engagement with archives and in its theorisation of anti-colonial popular sovereignty.

Watch our short video celebrating Teja's achievement and sharing his work with Jury Chair Ladislav Cabada. Read the full laudation here.

Our winner

Tejas Parasher is Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the University of California, Los Angeles. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago in 2019 and was formerly Junior Research Fellow in Political Thought and Intellectual History at the University of Cambridge.

Tejas's research interests are modern political and legal theory, particularly around questions of empire, statehood, and self-determination. He is currently working on a second book about the concept of imperial parliamentarism in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century political thought in British India.

In his own words

I am incredibly honored to receive the 2024 ECPR Political Theory Prize. I am especially excited (and hopeful) that this prestigious recognition will help bring greater attention to global, non-Western traditions of democratic thought within political theory.

Jury members

• Ladislav Cabada, Metropolitan University Prague
• Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson, University of Illinois
• Avia Pasternak, University College London
• Nahshon Perez, Bar IIan University
• Diana Popescu, Nottingham University
• Zachary Vereb, University of Mississippi

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Keywords: Political Theory