Announcement of the Labrecque-Lee Book Prize 2023

The Labrecque-Lee Book Prize committee is pleased to announce that the 2023 prize winner is Michael J. Hathaway for What a Mushroom Lives For, and that the finalist is Christopher Krupa for A Feast of Flowers.

The Labrecque-Lee Prize was created in 2018 and named in honor of two outstanding Canadian anthropologists, Marie-France Labrecque and Richard Borshay Lee. The Labrecque-Lee Prize recognizes a single-authored or co-authored monograph on sociocultural, archaeological, biocultural, ethnohistorical, or linguistic work, in French or English. It is awarded to CASCA members who demonstrate a Canadian affiliation through their fieldwork, their institution, their degree, or their funding.

The Life of a Mushroom, Michael J. Hathaway

The committee was impressed by the way Hathaway brought together so many elements to think about the matsutake — a particular species of mushroom — through practices of movement and consumption. In the context of a recent interest in thinking about fungi, Hathaway’s ethnography stands out both for its writing style and for its ability to combine ecology, botany, and history into a compelling ethnographic narrative.

A Feast of Flowers, Christopher Krupa

This rich account of colonialism, labor, and capital is a remarkable ethnographic analysis of the cut-flower industry in the highlands of Ecuador. This work has opened avenues for reflection on power and exploitation by tracing the commodity of cut flowers within a textured historical context.

Join us in celebrating this year's winners!

Call for nominations: Labrecque-Lee Book Prize 2024

The Canadian Anthropology Society is issuing a call for nominations for the 2024 Labrecque-Lee Book Prize. The Labrecque-Lee Book Prize rewards outstanding anthropological publications in French or English. In addition to being honored by CASCA at the annual meeting, the Labrecque-Lee Prize winners will also receive a $500 award.

Nominations for the Labrecque-Lee Book Prize must be submitted by someone other than the author or authors. You can find the detailed submission criteria on our website.

Nominations must be submitted electronically to membership@anthropologica.ca no later than May 15, 2024.