UC Berkeley Social Sciences Dean Raka Ray has been honored with this year's prestigious Jessie Bernard Award, which recognizes her as a scholar who has dedicated her career to enlarging the horizons of sociology to be fully inclusive of the role of women in society, the American Sociological Association (ASA) recently announced.
An accomplished sociologist with interests in gender and feminist theory, postcolonial sociology, and the emerging middle class in India, Ray’s work embodies the award’s spirit by modeling a feminist approach to service, mentoring and teaching, in addition to a record of impactful gender research.
“I am deeply grateful to the award committee, to those who wrote letters of support, and especially my present and former graduate students who nominated me for this award,” Ray said. “Jessie Bernard famously said of feminism, once you catch it, it makes all the difference for how you see the world. I caught feminism early on, and I have been blessed to have spent much of my life in community with those who had also caught it in its many contested forms.”
Some of Ray’s notable works include books such as Fields of Protest: Women’s Movements in India, which argues that the differences in the women’s movements of two Indian cities, Kolkata and Mumbai, could be attributed to the shape of their political fields; and Cultures of Servitude: Modernity, Domesticity, and Class in India (co-authored with Seemin Qayum), which examines how class and gender inequality gets produced and reproduced on a daily basis within the private world of a household.
“Raka Ray’s scholarship has influenced and inspired not only sociologists of gender in India but also those working on social movements, labor relations, economic liberalization and postcolonial forms of power,” wrote Amita Baviskar, a professor of environmental studies, sociology and anthropology at Ashoka University in India, who endorsed Ray for the award. “It is not only what she has done but how she has done it that deserves to be recognized and celebrated.”
The award committee was particularly impressed by Ray's extensive record of service and mentorship. She has been an active participant in a variety of committees at both UC Berkeley and ASA, embodying the quintessential scholar-teacher-citizen role with her profound engagement. Ray’s colleagues in the sociology community, who endorsed her for the accolade, praised her efforts to broaden and diversify the sociological lens both outside the US, and specifically to the Global South, but also theoretically.
“Dr. Ray became a pioneer of postcolonial feminism before it had a name, before it was recognized as such within sociology,” wrote Michael Burawoy, a former ASA president, who endorsed Ray for the award.
Since 2020, Ray has been the dean of Berkeley Social Sciences, leading the 15 departments and programs – African American studies, anthropology, cognitive science, demography, economics, ethnic studies, geography, gender and women’s studies, global studies, history, linguistics, political economy, political science, psychology and sociology – that comprise the largest academic division on campus. Under Ray’s leadership, Social Sciences has molded world-renowned economists, psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, historians and many others, who have not only thrived in their respective fields but also significantly contributed to the growth of the Berkeley community.
Ray received her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College and her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her other leadership roles at Berkeley include chairing the Department of Sociology, the Institute for South Asia Studies, and the Academic Senate’s Budget and Interdepartmental Relations Committee. A highly collaborative leader and skilled consensus-builder, Raka has also demonstrated a commitment to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice.
“Dean Ray's exceptional accomplishments across all areas of academia are a testament to her outstanding leadership,” said Dave Harding, incoming chair of Berkeley’s Department of Sociology. “Her leadership has helped shape the lives of many students, who go on to become socially conscious leaders.”
Ray will be honored in a ceremony during the ASA annual meeting in Philadelphia in August.