Our HELSUS Associate Professor, Franklin Obeng-Odoom, has been awarded the well-respected Joan Robinson Best Book Prize by the European Association of Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE). The award is granted biannually for books on political economy. Obeng-Odoom received the award for his 2020 book Property, Institutions and Social Stratification in Africa, published by Cambridge University Press.
The Cambridge University Press describes the book in the following way: “In this book Obeng-Odoom seeks to carefully explain, engage, and systematically question the existing explanations of inequalities within Africa, and between Africa and the rest of the world using insights from the emerging field of stratification economics. Drawing on multiple sources - including archival and historical material and a wide range of survey data - he develops a distinctive approach that combines key concepts in original institutional economics, such as reasonable value, property, and the distribution of wealth, with other insights into Africa's development and underdevelopment. While looking at the Africa-wide situation, Obeng-Odoom also analyzes the experiences of inequalities within specific countries.” The book has been widely reviewed in magazines such as Land and Liberty, published since 1894. You can check out an in-depth review of the book in Land & Liberty issue 1251, downloadable through this link.
The Ghanaian-born Franklin Obeng-Odoom first started his studies in Ghana (B.Sc. Land Economy, KNUST), from where he moved to the UK to do his master’s (M.Sc. Urban Economic Development) at the University of London, followed by PhD in Political Economy at the University of Sydney in Australia. Dr. Obeng-Odoom is now a HELSUS Associate Professor with Global Development Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He is a fellow of the Teacher’s Academy – the highest recognition bestowed on distinguished teachers at the university – and he's also a fellow at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. Obeng-Odoom's research interests are centred on the political economy of development, urban and regional economics, natural resources and the environment.