Sociology academics awarded 2026 Sage Prize for Innovation and Excellence

A paper by Dr Katy Wright and Professor Sarah Irwin has been awarded the prestigious Sage Prize for Innovation and Excellence.

Dr Katy Wright and Professor Sarah Irwin have won the 2026 Sage Prize for Innovation and Excellence for their paper ‘Not Talking about Climate Change: Everyday Interactions, Relational Work and Climate Silences’ published in Sociology.

The prestigious prize is awarded annually to one outstanding paper in each of the British Sociological Association’s (BSA) leading journals: Sociology; Cultural Sociology; Sociological Research Online and Work, Employment and Society.

Why do people not talk about climate change more often, given its profound importance?

Wright and Irwin’s paper explores how climate change frequently surfaces in everyday conversations, but where there are differences in perceived concern or interest, the talk is closed down, avoided or framed in particular ways. The paper explores how climate talk is shaped by relational contexts, moving beyond existing analysis which tends to either focus on ideological factors or individualised social psychological perspectives to explain climate silences.

This matters because there are growing calls for the public to engage in climate conversations as a way to raise awareness and encourage climate action. The research highlights why this can be difficult in practice and why it might not happen despite high levels of concern about climate change. Climate change, as an emotive and often contentious issue, can be difficult to raise in everyday conversations even, or sometimes especially, with family and friends.

Wright and Irwin explain that the idea for this paper was sparked by participants’ accounts of talking – or not talking – about climate change developing as a key theme from interviews. This also resonated with their own experiences of self-silencing on this issue and being closed down by others who might feel that discussion of climate change is upsetting or that there is ‘a time and a place’ for talking about it.

We were really pleased that the paper received the prize, especially because sociology hasn’t always paid as much attention to climate change as it could, despite the importance and value of sociological perspectives on this pressing issue.

–  Dr Katy Wright and Professor Sarah Irwin

The School of Sociology and Social Policy congratulates colleagues Katy and Sarah on this achievement.

Read Not Talking about Climate Change: Everyday Interactions, Relational Work and Climate Silences.

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