Islamophobia and Children Network

University of Leicester

Chris Allen is Associate Professor at the Centre for Hate Studies, University of Leicester. For the past two decades, he has been researching Islamophobia and the anti-Muslim ideologies of the British far-right. As part of this he has undertaken research into the experience of Muslim women victims of street-level Islamophobia, attacks on mosques, and political responses to Islamophobia. Allen is currently a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right; a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Royal Society of Arts, and US Department of State’s International Visiting Leadership Program; and an alumnus of the John Adams Society. In 2020, he published the monograph “Reconfiguring Islamophobia: a radical rethinking of a contested concept” (Palgrave).

Twitter

@DrChrisAllen

For selected publications:

https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/criminology/people/dr-chris-allen

Birmingham City University

Professor Imran Awan is one of the country’s leading criminologists and experts on Islamophobia and countering extremism.  He uses his extensive research knowledge to inform practitioners and policy-makers on effective measures in tackling some of the most important issues our society faces. His interdisciplinary research has led to multiple publications in several other areas of the social sciences. His impact goes beyond academia as he works with communities and politicians to raise awareness of Islamophobic hate crimes. He is currently working on a large ESRC / UKRI research study that examines the impact of misinformation and fake news about Muslims and was co-author of the new report: Coronavirus, Fear and how Islamophobia spreads on social media in 2020.

For selected publications visit:

bcu.ac.uk/social-sciences/about-us/staff/criminology-and-sociology/imran-awan

Professor Linda Briskman holds the Margaret Whitlam Chair of Social Work at Western Sydney University, in the School of Social Sciences

She teaches Critical Social Work. Previous academic positions include Professor of Human Rights at Swinburne University and Dr Haruhisa Handa Chair of Human Rights Education at Curtin University. She has been a visiting fellow at universities in the UK, Iran and Japan, and also has research partnerships in Indonesia. Her areas of research focus on Indigenous rights, asylum seeker rights and challenging Islamophobia. She publishes widely in each area.

Recent books include:

Zion, D., Briskman, L.  and Bagheri, A. (eds.) (2021),  Indigenous Health Ethics: An Appeal to human rights, World Scientific Publishing, London. 

Rice S., Day, A. and Briskman, L. (2018), (eds), Social Work in the Shadow of the Law, 5^th edition, The Federation Press, Sydney. 

Linda is a co-investigator with Professor Samina Yasmeen from the University of Western Australia and Derya Iner at Charles Sturt University on a project which examines the impact of Islamophobia on children. 

She is a member of the Challenging Racism Project at Western Sydney University, a Board member of the Australian Council for Human Rights Education and a co-convenor of Academics for Refugees. 

For selected publications:

westernsydney.edu.au/staff_profiles/uws_profiles/professor_linda_briskman

Lecturer and Research Coordinator at the Centre for Islamic Studies, Charles Sturt University

Derya Iner is Senior Lecturer and Research Coordinator at the Centre for Islamic Studies (CISAC), Charles Sturt University, teaching and researching subjects on contemporary issues related to Islam, Islamic cultures and Muslims. Iner is also the course coordinator of Contemporary Islamic Studies at CISAC.  Iner completed her PhD in Cultural Studies and Gender Studies in Wisconsin-Madison (USA). Her research focuses particularly on Islamophobia, especially women and children’s experience with Islamophobia, Western Muslim youth and their religious identity and Women in Islam and Islamic cultures.  Iner is the chief investigator and editor of the Islamophobia in Australia Report I (2017) and Islamophobia in Australia Report II (2019), which drew worldwide attention by reaching out to potential 730 million international audiences (according to CSU’s media metrics report). Iner’s recent publications include a co-edited volume with John Esposito Islamophobia and Radicalisation: Breeding Intolerance and Violence (Palgrave 2019). Derya is also an executive board member of the Islamophobia Register Australia and co-founder of Islamophobia and Children Network. She currently conducts research on Mosque Attacks in Australia, Children of Islamophobia and Islamophobia in Australia Report III.

Children of Islamophobia Project

The project started with the intention of exploring the direct and indirect (i.e. relational) effects of Islamophobia on children. The project was conducted in NSW, WA and VIC in collaboration with Prof Samina Yasmeen of University of Western Australia and Prof Linda Briskman of Western Sydney University.  The pilot study conducted in 2018 focused on interviewing with mothers and by doing so understanding the family dynamics, parental dynamics and state of being in terms of coping with Islamophobia. The research also aimed to inform the development of suitable methodologies to implement while conducting the research directly on children. As a result of the pilot, the scope of the study was further developed by proposing to investigate Muslim and non-Muslim children’ sense of oneself and the other under the climate of Islamophobia in Australia.

For selected publications

arts-ed.csu.edu.au/centres/cisac/staff/profiles/teaching-and-research-staff/derya-iner

Director, The Centre for Muslim States and Societies at The University of Western Australia 

Professor Samina Yasmeen is a teacher and researcher in UWA’s School of Social Sciences, and director and founder of the University’s Centre for Muslim States and Societies. She focuses on understanding perceptions of and by Muslims and Islam around the world, and seeks to make an impact on Australian and global politics.

Born in Pakistan, Professor Yasmeen commenced her studies in international relations with a specialisation on China and Pakistan relations. She developed an interest in Islam and Muslims, researching the end of the Cold War and the growing threat of radicalisation among Muslims.

Professor Yasmeen now extends her research on Muslim identities to jihadi narratives to assess the impact of jihadi literature on children, the relationship between women and jihad, and the deradicalisation policies adopted by selected countries.

A key goal for Professor Yasmeen’s research is to make a positive contribution to reduce ambiguities, build mutual respect and actively participate in making the world a safer place for all. She has previously received funding for her work from the Worldwide Universities Network and the International Mining for Development Centre.

Researcher profile

research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/samina-yasmeen/publications

Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Nottingham Trent University

Dr Irene Zempi is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Nottingham Trent University. She is the co-editor of the books: Misogyny as Hate Crime (Routledge, forthcoming 2021, with Dr Jo Smith) and Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia (Routledge, 2019 with Professor Imran Awan). Irene is the Principal Investigator for the evaluation of “Citizens at the Heart: A Citizen Centred Approach to Tackling Hate Crime”, which is a two-year pilot project funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme to tackle prejudice and respond to hate crime. She is a member of British Society of Criminology, British Sociological Association, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

For a full list of Irene’s publications, please visit her staff profile at ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/social-sciences/irene-zempi