Racialisation, relationality and riots: Intersections and interpellations

This paper takes up Avtar Brah's (1999) invitation to write back to the issues she raises in her mapping of the production of gendered, classed and racialised subjectivities in west London. It addresses two topics that, together, illuminate racialised and gendered interpellation and psychosocial processes. The paper is divided into two main sections. The first draws on empirical research on the transition to motherhood conducted in east London to consider one mother's experience of giving birth in the local maternity hospital. The maternity ward constituted a site where racialised difference became salient, leading her to construct her maternal identity by asserting her difference from Bangladeshi mothers and so self-racialising, as well as ‘othering’ Bangladeshi mothers. The paper analyses the ways in which her biography may help to explain why her experience of the maternity hospital interpellates her into racialised positioning. The second section focuses on media responses to the riots in various English cities in August 2011. It examines the ways in which some media punditry racialised the riots and inclusion in the British postcolonial nation. The paper analyses three sets of commentaries and illuminates the ways in which they racialise the debate in essentialising ways, reproducing themes that were identified in the 1980s as ‘new racism’ and apportioning blame for the riots to ‘black gangster culture’. While these media pronouncements focus on racialisation, they are intersectional in implicitly also invoking gender and social class. The paper argues that the understanding of the mother's self-racialisation is deepened by a consideration of the racialised discourses that can be evoked (and are contested) in periods of social unrest. The paper thus draws on part of the methodology of ‘The Scent of Memory’ in layering media readings and biographical narratives to analyse the contemporary psychosocial space of racialisation

Palestinian University Students Narrating Life Under Occupation

While Palestine is one of the most contested areas of the world, this thesis argues that the complexities of Palestinian narratives are rarely fully heard. It documents how Palestinian university students narrate their lives under occupation for a foreign audience, arguing that motivations for participating in the research affected the narratives shared. Some argued that they were resisting the illegal Israeli occupation by taking part and sharing stories designed to encourage an international audience to oppose it. Others condemned foreign intervention and constructed Muslim resistance as essential for Palestinian liberation. The thesis shows how participants constructed place in the interviews in ways that strengthened the messages they sought to convey and it explores the precarity in their accounts of how they negotiate the threat of imprisonment and death at the hands of the Israeli army. It argues that participants drew on historical claims to Palestine to emphasise their belonging to the land and steadfastness in order to appeal for international support for their cause, or to explain their desire to ‘wipe out’ the State of Israel. The thesis examines the accounts of students who argue that the occupation is pushing young Palestinians to want to leave Palestine and those who said they wanted to leave. It argues that they underline the importance of ending the occupation. The empirical chapters conclude by exploring how the participants expressed their desires for the future, arguing that some pinned their hopes on international support, some drew hope from their religious beliefs, while others saw Palestinian activism as the only way to achieve their goals. The thesis concludes that the participants’ narratives of resistance were more important as a means of them ‘getting by’ and continuing to remain steadfast than they were an effective means of working towards bringing an end to the occupation

Black Men’s Experiences of Colourism in the UK

Colourism – skin shade prejudice – is a social justice issue for People of Colour globally. Yet, there has been no major sociological study that explores colourism in the UK. Addressing this gap, we draw on nine in-depth qualitative interviews with Black and Mixed-Race heterosexual men living in England that formed part of a larger study of colourism. Using reflexive thematic analysis through an intersectional feminist lens, we argue that colourism is gendered. We found that Black men both experience colourism and perpetuate it by teasing male peers and favouring women with light skin. Our analysis generated three themes: (1) navigating colourism as part of growing up; (2) skin shade paradoxes for Black and Mixed-Race men; and (3) colourism and desirability through the Black male gaze. This research provides a nuanced exploration of colourism from Black and Mixed-Race men’s perspectives. It underscores the significance of colourism in the UK

Investigating the role of perceived ingroup and outgroup colourism on body image and wellbeing among Black, Asian, and other racialised/ethnic minority groups living in the UK

Colourism is a form of prejudice and discrimination based on skin shade, disadvantaging people of colour with darker skin. This study investigates the relationship between perceived colourism, body image, and psychological wellbeing, considering perceived colourism from the ingroup (people of the same racialised group) and the outgroup (white people). A total of 516 Black, Asian, and other racialised/ethnic minority adults living in the UK (56.8 % women) completed an online survey. Using structural equation modelling, we tested a theoretically informed model: ingroup and outgroup colourism were predictors, body image and psychological distress were outcomes, and skin shade satisfaction and surveillance were hypothesised mediators. The model provided a good fit to the data. Ingroup colourism was related to lower skin shade satisfaction and higher skin shade surveillance, which in turn related to worse body image and greater psychological distress. Outgroup colourism was related to higher skin shade surveillance, which in turn was associated with worse body image. Outgroup colourism was directly associated with greater psychological distress. Results showed perceived colourism was associated with worse body image and psychological distress among people of colour in the UK. Therefore, colourism should be considered in the development of societal-, community-, and individual-level body image interventions

Understanding colourism in the UK: Development and assessment of the everyday colourism scale

This paper details the development and psychometric validation of the Everyday Colourism Scale (ECS), a measure designed to capture perceived skin shade prejudice from the ingroup (ethnic peers) and the outgroup (White people). The ECS was adapted from the Everyday Discrimination Scale using existing research, expert reviews, and acceptability interviews. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability and validity analyses were conducted based on responses from 540 people of colour living in the UK. Predictive validity was tested based on data from an additional 201 participants. Results supported a 2-factor model, with good internal and test–retest reliability, and construct validity. Colourism from White people was associated with more frequent experiences of racism, higher internalized colourism, and greater anxiety. Colourism from participants’ ethnic peers was associated with lower self-esteem and perceived social support. Findings suggest the ECS is a promising new tool for assessing perceived colourism among a multi-ethnic UK sample

Dark skin penalty, shame and resistance:Negotiating colourism in UK families

Colourism – prejudice and discrimination penalising people with dark skin – canoccur in many social settings, including within families. Drawing on qualitativeresearch with women and men from different minoritized ethnic backgrounds in the UK, we argue that while families can be an important buffer against racism, children are often exposed to colourism by family members. Our findings, based on reflexive thematic analysis on data from 33 semi-structured interviews, highlight how families can reproduce colourism. Taking an intersectional analytical approach, we found that colourism in families is often gendered, with girls and women more affected than boys and men. We found that dark skin can be seen as negative and a potential source of familial shame. Further, colourism in families can have harmful, enduring effects on wellbeing and body image. However, we found that families can also be sites of resistance, protecting family members from colourism

Islam on Campus: Contested Identities and the Cultures of Higher Education in Britain

Islam on Campus explores how Islam is represented, perceived, and lived within higher education in Britain. It considers the changing nature of university life, and the place of religion within it. Even while many universities maintain ambiguous or affirming orientations to religious institutions for reasons to do with history and ethos, much western scholarship has presumed higher education to be a strongly secularising force. This framing has resulted in religion often being marginalised or ignored as a cultural irrelevance by the university sector. However, recent times have seen higher education increasingly drawn into political discourses that problematize religion in general, and Islam in particular, as an object of risk. Using the largest data set yet collected in the UK, Islam on Campus explores university life and the ways in which ideas about Islam and Muslim identities are produced, experienced, perceived, appropriated, and objectified. The volume considers the role universities and Muslim higher education institutions play in the production, reinforcement, and contestation of emerging narratives about religious difference. This is a culturally nuanced treatment of universities as sites of knowledge production, and contexts for the negotiation of perspectives on culture and religion among an emerging generation. This collaborative study demonstrates the urgent need to release Islam from its official role as the othered, or the feared. When universities achieve this we will be able to help students of all affiliations and of none to be citizens of the campus in preparation for being citizens of the world