Congratulations to former Kellogg Institute graduate student (Dissertation Year Fellow 2008-09) and visiting fellow (spring 2016) Olukunle Owolabi, whose book Ruling Emancipated Slaves and Indigenous Subjects (Oxford University Press) has won the 2024 Merze Tate – Elinor Ostrom Outstanding Book Award for the best book on government, politics, or international affairs from the American Political Science Association.
This is just the latest in a series of awards Owolabi has garnered for his book. Others include:
- Co-Winner, APSA Best Book Award in Citizenship and Migration
- Honorable Mention, Luebbert Best Book Award in APSA Comparative Politics
- Winner, 2024 Peter Katzenstein Book Prize
- Winner, 2024 W.E.B. Du Bois Distinguished book award, National Conference of Black Political Scientists
- Winner, 2023 ISA ENMISA Distinguished Book Award
Based on his dissertation under the direction of Faculty Fellow Michael Coppedge, Ruling Emancipated Slaves and Indigenous Subjects is an examination of the divergent developmental legacies of forced settlement and colonial occupation on both sides of the Black Atlantic world. Contributing to his research, the Kellogg Institute awarded Owolabi a doctoral research grant and a Dissertation Year Fellowship when he was a student, and later a Visiting Fellowship to complete the book.
In his review of the book, David D. Laitin, Stanford University calls it an "eye-opening treatise" and says that it "describes what generations of development economists did not see, namely that countries populated by slaves of forced settlement have brought peace, prosperity, and democracy far outpacing countries of colonial occupation." He praises the author, saying, "My hat off to Owolabi for opening our eyes to what has long been obscured by academic prejudices."
Owolabi is associate professor of political science and director of the Africana Studies Program at Villanova University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Toronto, a master’s in Latin American studies from Oxford University, and a doctorate in political science from the University of Notre Dame.