Dr Kawtar Najib, a lecturer in the Department of Geography and Planning, presented her book ‘Spatialized Islamophobia’ at an event held at the House of Commons recently.
The book, the paperback version of which was published last September, provides ground-breaking insights in recognising the importance of space in the formation of anti-Muslim racism.
As part of the event, Dr Najib took part in a panel discussion about the key findings and themes of her book alongside Naz Shah, MP, Chair of British Muslims APPG, Professor Salman Sayyid, from the University of Leeds, AbdoolKarim Vakil, from Kings College London and Joseph Hayat, Editor in Chief at British Muslim TV.
The panel was chaired by Dr Rupa Huq, Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton.
Dr Najib said: “It was a great opportunity to discuss my book in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament with an excellent panel and audience. The book examines the spatialized and multi-scalar nature of Islamophobia at the global, national, urban, infra-urban, embodied and emotional scales and particularly offers quantitative and qualitative comparisons between the United Kingdom and France.”
Baroness Manzila Pola Uddin also joined the event and gave valuable comments and insights.
The day after the event, MP Naz Shah gave a speech at the Parliament inspired by the discussions generated during the panel discussion and book talk on Islamophobia as a pervasive problem and on the hierarchy of racisms.
Dr Kawtar Najib is a human geographer with expertise in Islamophobia and its spatialization, and more broadly issues of social and spatial justice: urban exclusion, austerity, racism and sexism.
