Honorary Fellow and alumna, Professor Bina Agarwal has been awarded the prestigious Kenneth E. Boulding Memorial Award for Ecological Economics 2023, jointly with David Barkin (Professor, Metropolitan University, Mexico City).
Bina Agarwal studied Economics at Murray Edwards College (then New Hall) from 1970 to 1972. In the 1990s, she pioneered the issue of gender inequality in property and land, in her book, A Field of One’s Own: Gender and Land rights in South Asia (Cambridge University Press, 1994) which garnered many awards. Her writings have global impact and have placed the issue of women's land rights centrally on the agenda of governments, civil society, and international agencies.
Combining academic excellence with policy advocacy, in 2005 she also led a successful civil society campaign for amending India’s Hindu Inheritance law, to make it gender equal.
Bina has been President of the International Society for Ecological Economics, President of the International Association for Feminist Economics, and Vice President of the International Economic Association. She holds several honorary doctorates and is an elected member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Italy.
The Kenneth E. Boulding Memorial Award for Ecological Economics 2023 is dedicated to individuals who embody the exceptional qualities of Kenneth E. Boulding, aiming to preserve and perpetuate the wisdom he imparted to International Society for Ecological Economics members and beyond. The Boulding Award Jury Committee said
Both esteemed scholars are recognized for their significant and enduring contributions to Ecological Economics, particularly in exploring social equity and gender roles in rural societies within developing regions.