Rosa del Olmo Prize: Introductory Essay

Abstract

Academic prizes have three problems: they feed an individualist ethos, perpetuate the idea of the ‘marketplace of ideas’ as a fair and even playing field, and build a stereotype of white, Western men as the ultimate knowledge creators. However, prizes can also challenge stereotypes and help democratise knowledge creation by enlarging the visibility of communitarian knowledge creation beyond Western scripts and outside hegemonic masculinities. The International Journal for Crime, Justice, and Social Democracy, committed to cognitive justice, knowledge democratisation, and encouraging voices on the periphery to partake in global academic debate, established the Rosa del Olmo Prize. Seeking to challenge criminological stereotypes about who can create knowledge that contributes to the development of criminology, the Journal honours Venezuelan criminologist Rosa del Olmo (1937-2000) through this award. Rosa symbolises critical, feminist, decolonial criminology working to advance social justice.