UC Davis Book is Finalist for ACLS Open Access Book Prizes

Kernels of Resistance : Maize, Food Sovereignty, and Collective Power by Prof. Liza Grandia (Department of Native American Studies) has been selected as a finalist for the 2026 American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Open Access Book Prize and the Arcadia Open Access Book Award. The book chronicles how indigenous maize farmers in Guatemala have succesfully defended their traditional seed-saving practices against corporate interests. The book’s wide, cost-free availability to readers around the world—including an open access Spanish edition—will help audiences learn from the experience of these communities.

UC Davis Library is proud to have supported the open access edition of Professor Grandia’s book through funding from the TOME Initiative, a national open access book publishing project that has since concluded.

Congratulations, Liza!