Professor Eamonn Carrabine elected Fellow of the British Academy

University of Essex sociologist and criminologist Professor Eamonn Carrabine has been elected as a Fellow of the British Academy in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the humanities and social sciences.

Professor Carrabine, from Essex's Department of Sociology and Criminology, is among 58 UK Fellows elected to the prestigious Fellowship in 2026.

Founded in 1902, the British Academy is the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences, bringing together more than 1,800 leading scholars from the UK and around the world.

Election to the Fellowship is one of the highest honours in the humanities and social sciences, recognising individuals who have achieved distinction through their research and scholarship.

Professor Carrabine said: "I am absolutely delighted and deeply honoured to have been elected a Fellow of the British Academy. It is a privilege to receive this recognition, and I look forward to contributing to the Academy's mission.

"The Academy plays a crucial role as a supporter and advocate of the arts, humanities and social sciences, and these efforts are especially important when all our disciplines are under such unprecedented threat."

Professor Carrabine joined the University of Essex in 1998 and has built an international reputation through his research across sociology and criminology.

His work has explored topics including punishment, crime, media and visual culture, and has helped shape debates within the discipline over more than two decades.

His contributions to UK research have also included serving on the Sociology sub-panels for both the 2014 and 2021 Research Excellence Framework exercises.

In 2015, he was awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship to undertake his three-year project, The Iconography of Punishment: From Renaissance to Modernity.

He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2016 and has also been appointed to serve on the 2029 REF Sociology sub-panel.

Welcoming the new Fellows, British Academy President Professor Susan J Smith said: "I am delighted to welcome our newest Fellows to the British Academy.

“Each has made an outstanding contribution to their field, and together they reflect the remarkable breadth and depth of scholarship across our disciplines.

"Our new Fellows join a community of scholars with unparalleled expertise, dedicated to advancing research, fostering collaboration across disciplines and demonstrating the value of the humanities and social sciences.

“I am proud to give my warmest congratulations to them all on their election today."