In Memoriam: David Graeber (1961–2020)
To our shock, David Graeber passed away on 2 September. In this piece Charles Stewart reflects on and celebrates David’s recent work.
Contributions to topics & debates across the social sciences
ISRF-funded Fellows & Projects since 2010
Grant and Essay Competitions for Early- & Mid-Career Academics and Independent Scholars
Platforms for research dissemination and contributions to wider debates
The Independent Social Research Foundation is a public benefit foundation funded by a group of private philanthropists with interests in academia and social science, founded in 2008.
The ISRF is dedicated to advancing the social sciences through the promotion of new modes of inquiry and the development of interdisciplinary expertise and methods, and through better understanding of social entities and processes.
What We Do
To achieve this objective the ISRF provide a series of funding opportunities, enters into partnerships with academic institutions and supports research activities that promote development across the social sciences and humanities.
How We Do It
The ISRF is an endowed foundation – the endowment, and any additional donations, are directly used to promote and support the objectives of the ISRF. Oversight responsibility for the Foundation’s endowment lies with the ISRF Investment Committee.
The Executive Team are responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the annual budget, as approved by the Foundation Board. The Foundation is advised by an Academic Advisory Board comprised of leading international academics from across the social sciences.
As a Netherlands-registered Stichting, the ISRF is required to maintain a policy plan which draws together the objectives and activities of the Foundation. It is also required to produce an Annual Report, to have its own remuneration policy, and to publish a financial statement for the most recent financial year.
For Early- and Mid-Career Academics, Independent Scholars, and Small Groups
In Economics & Social Theory
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The Independent Social Research Foundation wishes to support independent-minded researchers to explore and present original research ideas which take new approaches, and suggest new solutions, to real world social problems.
ISRF funding is awarded competitively through a series of grant – individual Fellowships and flexible, small group support – and essay competitions.
Award recipients are invited to present their work at ISRF Workshops, and to contribute articles to the ISRF Bulletin.
Existing or previous ISRF Fellows may apply to the ISRF Dissemination Fund for a grant of up to £500 towards the cost of, for example, holding an event at which a book (or a book to which they have contributed significantly) is launched.
Regrettably, due to uncertainties around the ongoing Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak, we have taken the precaution of postponing our annual workshop scheduled for 3-5 April in Athens, Greece.
The ISRF Annual Workshop provides a platform for ISRF Fellows to report on their research projects, and also to contribute to conversations and discussions around a theme.
The ISRF also runs other events in partnership with Fellows past and present, and with institutional partners in the UK & Europe.
Beginning with the inaugural Annual Workshop in May 2013 event, the ISRF has run and funded a number of events with the aim to provide a platform for ISRF Fellows to report on their research projects, and also to contribute to broader conversations and discussions across the social sciences.
Since launching in 2013, the ISRF Bulletin has provided information on the interdisciplinary research of ISRF Fellows.
Recent posts include:
To our shock, David Graeber passed away on 2 September. In this piece Charles Stewart reflects on and celebrates David’s recent work.
Is a second wave of coronavirus the price of freedom?
What place does the concept of dangerousness occupy in criminal justice and criminalisation? Instead of seeing dangerousness as a characteristic of serious and persistent criminals, we should investigate its pervasive role in criminal justice, question its socio-affective allure, and unpick the problematic but intimate relation between criminal justice, structural inequalities, and oppression.
In 2016, Rachael Kiddey interviewed David Graeber about the concept of ‘discovery’ and about his research. We republish the interview here in his memory.
One chapter closes and another begins, today, as Louise Braddock hands the directorial baton to Chris Newfield.
The ‘Finishing Time’ project makes use of timelines and images with graduates from a prisoner resettlement scheme, which are then used to compose ‘i-poems’. What can these i-poems reveal about alternative rehabilitative conceptualisations of wellbeing and meaning beyond the notion of released subjects as risky and potentially transgressive?
Dr Lars Cornelissen
Academic Editor
Stuart Wilson
Administrator
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London W2 3PS
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7262 0196
Please note that the ISRF does not respond to unsolicited grant applications.
If you are considering an application to one of our Fellowship competitions, please check the Frequently Asked Questions before contacting us directly.