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News Release

2010 Michael Young Prize Winner Announced

11 March 2010 Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

Conceived in honour of the founder of the ESRC, the late Lord Michael Young, the prize aims to reward and encourage early career researchers whose work offers genuine new insights and is likely to have an impact beyond academia. Dr Le Mare wins £6000 to help her communicate her research findings to businesses, organisations as well as producing a booklet for fair trade workers and schools in Bangladesh and the UK.

Dr Le Mare’s research focuses on the impact of fair trade, first on the wellbeing of women who produce decorative items made completely by hand and secondly, on businesses and organisations. Through comparing woman who were employed in fair trade with other paid work opportunities it was found that fair trade employment had a significant influence on reducing poverty and improving social wellbeing.

Fair trade partnerships with organisations were used as a way to implement ideas of fair national development and to counteract corruption in business practices. The research focused on an important and often over looked, aspect of fair trade – the effect of the philosophy and practices of the fair trade organisations in producer countries.

Dr Le Mare comments on her plans: “With my research into the social and business impact of fair trade handicraft production I intend to engage with the business and development communities more generally. Besides producing a booklet, I will prepare a video on fair trade to be used in schools. Through these activities I hope to make the fair trade movement more democratic, by increasing the capacity of business and individual artisans in Bangladesh to work together and to encourage them to make links with academics and researchers in their country.

Funds from the Michael Young prize will be used to make the findings accessible to people in Bangladesh especially to the staff, the producers and the wider community. Discussions of the research will inform and provide ideas of improving impact, addressing problems, and considering ways in which fair trade businesses could co-operate with other agencies and individuals interested in similar aspirations.

 Dr Le Mare’s booklet for the producers and the artisans who took part in the research, will explain the principles of fair trade and the main research findings. As many of the producers are semi-literate, the information will be in pictures, diagrams and simple sentences.  Various discussions within villages will be arranged, ultimately leading to impact on different levels, empowering women producers and improving skills.

Drs. Astrid Wissenburg, Director of Communication and Information at the ESRC comments:  “Getting research into practice so that it has a demonstrable impact on policy, business and wider society is at the heart of what the ESRC does. I am delighted that, by working with The Young Foundation, we can encourage researchers at the start of their careers to do just that."

In conjunction with the Michael Young Prize , the joint winners for the Neville Butler Memorial prize were also announced as Dr. Mayada Elsabbagh for her research on ‘The British Autism Study of Infant Siblings’ and Dr. Luna Muñoz for her research on Parenting and Youth Conduct Problems and Delinquency: Reciprocal Effects and Moderation by Callous-Unemotional Traits.  This prize is a fitting memorial to Neville Butler who died aged 86 on 22 February 2007, founder of the 1958 and 1970 Birth Cohort Studies.