Each year, the Levine Prize is awarded under the auspices of the Research Committee on the Structure and Organization of Government (RC 27) of the International Political Science Association (IPSA)
This year, the Award Committee has selected The Politics of Refugee Policy in the Global South, by Ola G. El-Taliawi, Ph.D., published by McGill-Queen's University Press, as the 2025 recipient of the Levine Award.
The prize recognizes the best book in the field of comparative public administration or public policy published in the preceding year, based on the recommendation of an independent and distinguished selection committee.
An excerpt from the committee's award citation, which will be published in the Journal "Governance", reads as follows:
"The book addresses a longstanding empirical gap by offering an innovative theoretical and methodological framework for analysing how Global South states respond to mass refugee movements. Theoretically, the book develops a heuristic model that is both innovative and generalisable, offering scholars and policymakers valuable tools for analysing refugee governance in other Global South contexts experiencing large-scale displacement.
The author combines extensive documentary research, in-depth fieldwork, and interviews. The committee is particularly impressed by the depth of the empirical work and the book’s strong commitment to epistemic justice. It amplifies the voices of local and regional scholars from Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, and challenges knowledge hierarchies that often marginalise Global South expertise. Importantly, the book outlines clear, actionable policy implications for refugee governance. It emphasizes the vital role of academia and media in challenging stereotypes and xenophobic narratives against refugees.
The committee finds that the book's contribution is timely and transformative, with implications both in scholarly research advancing epistemic justice, policy and societal impact". linkedIn page
