I have never assumed that being educated makes you safe from the politics going on around you. Most people assume it does. We know that people who stay on at school and go to university are, on average, more welcoming to immigrants. The bit we rarely check is the extra claim hiding inside that one:…… Continue reading What a degree cannot protect you from
Tag: Society
Pulling Together, Not Apart: Reflections on Islamophobia and the University
Reflections after the University of Salford’s symposium on Islamophobia in Higher Education, 5 November 2026 Yesterday I travelled to Salford to give a keynote (with slides) at the University of Salford’s symposium on Islamophobia in Higher Education, held at the New Adelphi Theatre and convened by the University’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Social Justice and Equity.…… Continue reading Pulling Together, Not Apart: Reflections on Islamophobia and the University
Clash Course: Islamophobia, Power and the Generation Changing the Script
I’ve been thinking about Islamophobia a great deal. Not just reflecting on the concept and its intellectual dimensions, but also writing about it in various ways: its structural, cultural, institutional, legal, societal and political norms, outcomes and processes, and the many different ways of trying to make sense of it. This has been going on…… Continue reading Clash Course: Islamophobia, Power and the Generation Changing the Script
Birmingham’s Muslims: A Call to Action
On Friday night at Soul City Arts in Birmingham, the Muslim Institute, in collaboration with the An-Nisa Society, launched Birmingham’s Muslims – Conversations on grassroots community and change, authored by Humera Khan, a civil society campaigner, author, and activist with over forty years of experience working in the third sector on questions relating to Muslims…… Continue reading Birmingham’s Muslims: A Call to Action
Englishness Is Not an Ethnicity
It is both amusing and revealing to watch Suella Braverman talk about race, identity, belonging and citizenship. Her comments can be dumbfounding, not least because they confuse the issues, subvert reality and reflect a completely disjointed understanding of what is indeed a complex matter, yet also a relatively straightforward one. The old adage that you…… Continue reading Englishness Is Not an Ethnicity
Can We Unite the Kingdom? Class, grievance and the politics of division: reflections from Birmingham
On the evening of 23 September 2026, the Dialogue Society held the third in its series of conversations on polarisation and extremism at BRIG Café on Allison Street in Birmingham. The title was “Can we unite the Kingdom when money and class continue to divide us?” The panel brought together Dr Nathan Kerrigan, Cherie-Louise Waddingham…… Continue reading Can We Unite the Kingdom? Class, grievance and the politics of division: reflections from Birmingham
A Journey into Bosnia’s Wounds
I’ve taken my notebook with me on this four-day trip to Bosnia. A visit to a country that I have been wanting to see for years is finally happening, as I take part in the group visit organised by a local charity that aims to enhance cross-cultural and interreligious dialogue and engagement – a worthy…… Continue reading A Journey into Bosnia’s Wounds
The Long Shadow of 9/11: Memory, Injustice and the Politics of Security
Today marks exactly twenty-five years since 9/11. It remains, quite rightly, a day of mourning for the nearly 3,000 people killed in those attacks, and for the families and communities whose lives were altered forever. Any serious reflection on the last quarter of a century must begin there: with grief, with loss, and with the…… Continue reading The Long Shadow of 9/11: Memory, Injustice and the Politics of Security
Nathan Cofnas, “Race Realism”, and the Boundaries of Academic Freedom
Debates over academic freedom become especially charged when controversial claims intersect with histories of racism, exclusion, and scientific misuse. Nathan Cofnas, an American postdoctoral researcher formerly affiliated with the University of Cambridge and Emmanuel College, and more recently with Ghent University, specialises in the philosophy of science. He has become a highly controversial figure because…… Continue reading Nathan Cofnas, “Race Realism”, and the Boundaries of Academic Freedom
Who Gets to Be British? The Far Right’s Dangerous Conflation
Imagine standing in a crowded town square, watching a mob chant about “taking our country back”, while a young man of South Asian descent clutches his dark blue passport — a document that legally declares “British Citizen” but is treated by the rioters as a worthless piece of paper. I am keen to explore the…… Continue reading Who Gets to Be British? The Far Right’s Dangerous Conflation