Transnational practices in local settings: Experiences of citizenship among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London and Birmingham

Lead Research Organisation: University College London
Department Name: Social Science

Abstract

'Transnational citizenship' (Baubock, 1994; Fox, 2005) has been conceptualised to reflect the processes through which political identity transcends the nation-state (Basch et al, 1994). However, the degree to which political identities that cross borders may be informed by political identities within borders remains a matter of considerable academic debate. It has been argued, for example, that transnational ties represent an impediment to the formation of national and local identifications; a danger to citizenship and integration in countries of settlement (Snel et al, 2006). Others argue that the reverse may also be true. The concept of 'political opportunity structure' has come to suggest that transnational practices take place in local settings; shaped by the particular opportunities and constraints present in different localities (Guarnizo and Smith, 1998; Mahler, 1998). This deviates from the majority of the literature on Muslim transnational relations in particular, in which the focus is very often on the characteristics of the population, or the characteristics of Islamic culture, in a way that ignores "the role of social and political circumstances in shaping how people make sense of the world and then act upon it" (Kundnani, 2014, p.10).

This project considers the relationship between the local and transnational citizenship experiences of Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London and Birmingham. It investigates local experiences of citizenship in relation to a) different histories of settlement, b) different population profiles in terms of ethnic concentration, age, gender, socio-economic background, length of residence and naturalization status, and c) the different social and political environments of the two cities. The project will examine how these local political identities influence processes of transnational engagement, and consider how transnational identities and relationships in turn inform local political subjectivity. It will draw on the insights of 'political opportunity theory' but depart from it in two key respects. First, previous work has tended to construct migrant populations as homogenous groups and this project will devote greater attention to considering how issues play out differently according to gender, generation and class. Second, it will move beyond characterisations of citizenship based on 'formal status' to consider more 'substantive' dimensions of socio-political engagement - the social, cultural, political, or symbolic 'acts' that legal status may or may not make possible (Isin and Nielsen, 2008). This includes examination of access to education, employment, housing, healthcare and local political processes. In each location, 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews will be conducted with 15 Bengali families in the form of same-sex parent/child dyads. The use of same-sex parent-child dyads will help draw out generational dimensions and focus the issues of continuity and change over time. In addition, 5 oral history interviews and 5 civil society interviews will be conducted in each location, producing a total of 80 interviews, complemented by ethnographic observation with the Bangladeshi community in both field sites.

In the context of the on-going 'War on Terror', and an increasing political and media focus on a security threat that is 'home grown', the transnational practices of British Muslims have generated particular concern. This has fed into a range of recent policy proposals with respect to the treatment of British subjects who engage in transnational activities the Government does not support, and brings the constitutionally protected activities of a large number of people under increasing surveillance (Kundnani, 2014). In popular debate and the practice of public policy, therefore, transnational ties may affect local experiences of citizenship, but more research is needed to understand how transnational activity is situated in local social, cultural and political milieu.

Planned Impact

Who will benefit?
1) Civil Society organisations who work with Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London and Birmingham. These will include The Swadhinata Trust and the Community Connection Foundation who will work with the PI in an advisory capacity as part of a Steering Committee. This Committee will have a role to play in the co-production of knowledge, advising the PI every six months on project developments and directions. In addition, links will be made to a broader range of groups working with the Bangladeshi community in each field site who will be invited to attend the end of project workshops.

2) Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London and Birmingham. By building links with a range of Civil Society organizations during the course of the project, and particularly at the end of project workshops, findings will be dissemintated to the members to which they cater. Relationships will also be developed with local media networks in order to disseminate the findings to local constituents.

3) Policy makers in central and local government. These will be drawn from among: the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the Government Equalities Office, the Home Office, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Tower Hamlets Council and Birmingham City Council.

How will they benefit?
Civil Society organisations will benefit from an examination of obstacles to, and opportunities for, effective citizenship in the two field-sites. The research will examine community needs in relation to naturalization, housing, education, healthcare and employment. This will help the organisations involved to better cater to the needs of the communities they work with in relation to the advocacy, education, training and advice that they provide. The project will use the findings to formulate two working papers specifically for Civil Society (one for each location), tailoring evidence to the needs of users. These will be disseminated and discussed at the end of project workshops.

Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London and Birmingham will benefit from an improvement in the services delivered by these organisations. In particular, the project's knowledge-exchange activities will facilitate a better understanding of the 'internal borders' based on gender, generation and class, which represent a barrier to full and effective citizenship at the local level. These findings will be used to formulate one working paper for the Bangladeshi community which will be disseminated through the Civil Society organisations invited to the workshops and through the local media. In this way, Civil Society organisations will act as 'knowledge brokers' communicating key messages.

Policy makers in central and local government will gain a better understanding of the nature of the political exclusion faced by Bangladesh-origin Muslims in these two cities. The research will investigate concerns around employment, education and socio-economic disadvantage, as well as the lack of community representation in different public institutions, in order to generate policy recommendations to improve the relationship between Bangladeshi residents and central and local government. Findings will enable government agencies to assess the impact of the way in which they work with this community to support or constrain transnational activity - and the positive/negative impact of this work in terms of local experiences of citizenship. This will not only help them to develop policy initiatives aimed at Bangladeshi-origin groups but may alert them to the implications of current policy directed at Muslim minorities more generally. In order to maximise the potential impact on policy, two briefing papers (one for each location) will be discussed at the workshops and final versions disseminated at the presentations to policy-makers in month 30. These will be accompanied by press releases and engagement with local and national media.
 
Description 1) The research found little difference in citizenship experiences among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London, Luton and Birmingham - despite different settlement histories, different population profiles, and different social and political environments. Interviewees in all three field sites discussed similar concerns around the 'effectivity' of their citizenship, particularly in relation to equal treatment in employment. Many interviewees described difficulties in accessing jobs as well as difficulties in relation to promotion, retention and pay. Interviewees discussed young Bangladeshis' strong performance in education not always matching their career opportunities. There were some regional differences in citizenship experiences which related to the intersection of socio-economic status, for example participants in Birmingham were more likely to have been negatively effected by 2012 changes in the family migration rules in the UK as a result of the introduction of a minimum income requirement (article submitted to Ethnic and Racial Studies)
2) The relationship between experiences of discrimination and transnational practice did have some differences across field-sites however, with 'protective transnationalism' (see Redclift and Rajina, 2019) less common in Tower Hamlets than in Birmingham and Luton, perhaps because Tower Hamlets is such a large and settled community that the kind of insecurity that might prompt a renewed interest in land and property in Bangladesh is less likely to occur.
3) Government policy was implicated in these concerns around 'effective citizenship' particularly in the form of the Prevent Strategy which interviewees argued closed down conversations, created an environment of fear in educational institutions, and arbitrated on the conditions in which they could belong.
4) It was suggested that the current political context, in terms of 'Hostile Environment' immigration policies and the rhetoric surrounding Brexit, was related to a significant rise in anti-Muslim hate crime. The Government will not build trust with this community until the effect of such policies on ethnic minorities, and specifically Muslim communities, is addressed. In this context, interviewees described what we have conceptualised as a 'burden of conviviality' (see Redclift, Rajina and Rashid, 2022 forthcoming in Sociology) in which their citizenship was felt to be contingent on their ability to demonstrate 'conviviality', contra to their representation in political discourse and public debate. Interviewees explained that they under reported 'hate crime' because it was something many had come to expect, and instead they engaged in a 'labour' of representation in which they tried to overcome negative stereotypes by offering an alternative representation in public space.
5) In relation to some of these experiences of citizenship, local organisations were found to provide Bangladeshi women and elderly men and women with a wide range of courses and activities, including but not limited to ESOL, which develop skills, employability, improve health and well- being and reduce isolation. They were thought to be extremely valuable but under significant threat due to lack of funding.
6) The project sought to examine relationships between these local experiences of citizenship and transnational social, religious and political engagement and while it did not find a relationship between citizenship experiences and religious or political engagement it did find a relationship between citizenship experiences and social forms of transnationalism. Specifically, we found a surprising number of people in the UK acquiring or maintaining land and property in Bangladesh because of their experiences of discrimination in the UK or concern at the fragility of their citizenship. We have conceptualised this as 'protective transnationalism' (Redclift and Rajina, 2019). Here we demonstrate that while the 'reactive transnationalism hypothesis' posits a relationship between discrimination and transnational practice, the concept has generally been studied using quantitative methods which has limited our understanding of two context-specific dimensions: the nature of the discrimination involved, and the types of transnational behaviour that might be affected. Through in-depth qualitative research we are able to demonstrate how, in the UK, anti-Asian and anti-Muslim racism have been conflated with intensified anti-migrant racism in the context of 'hostile environment' immigration policies and the EU Referendum ('Brexit'), producing an amplification of racist discourses associated with purging the body politic of its non-white bodies. Moreover, we found that the insecurity generated among Bangladesh-origin Muslims is altering some people's relationships to Bangladesh, incentivising investment in land and property 'back home'. While this could be said to represent an example of 'reactive transnationalism', we argue that 'protective transnationalism' is a more appropriate way of describing the processes at work. 'Protective transnationalism' is also a product of discrimination, but borne out of a particular desire to protect oneself and one's future security in the face of it. There is little research on transnational practices that function as forms of protection for immigrants and minorities experiencing racism. 'Protective transnationalism' may have increased in line with political upheavals and nationalist or populist politics across the globe, something further research should examine.
7) We examined the interactions between local and transnational citizenship in relation to age, class and gender and found participants of all ages, genders and socio-economic positions engaging in 'protective transnationalism'. We also found significant gendered, generational and classed dimensions of transnational activity more generally.
8) We found a negative association between the role of Government agencies in constraining transnational activity (through monitoring, surveillance and punishment) in terms of local experiences of citizenship. The experience of monitoring and surveillance in particular appeared in some cases to be related to increased transnational activity of the form mentioned above.
9) We argue that some of the citizenship experiences investigated, particularly in relation to discrimination in employment, housing and healthcare settings, tell us a lot about the British Bangladeshi community's extremely poor Covid-19 outcomes - much of which is a result of long-term structural inequality and systemic racism. We have submitted evidence on this theme to the APPG Coronavirus as well as to Sarah Owen MPs office for a report she is writing on vaccine mistrust and ethnicity (also see IOE blog, 2021).
Exploitation Route We have already developed these conversations through a Policymaker roundtable and through meetings with relevant MPs, as well as through submissions of evidence to the APPG Coronavirus, and the call for evidence on the Civil Society Submission on the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination. The next step is to continue to communicate these findings to policy-makers, locally and nationally. In particular:
1) Discrimination in the labour market can be addressed through introducing policies that would encourage more data collection on the part of employers (public and private sector) in relation applications, interviews and offers but also promotion, retention and pay. Policies should address racial and religious discrimination by looking at pay gaps, promotion gaps, and by mandating name-blind CVs. These recommendations are being sent to the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
2) Attention needs to be paid to building up networks across different generations to enable a smooth transition for young people who enter employment. This would refer young people to role models in their fields of interest, improving confidence and preparing them for any difficulties they may encounter in employment. These recommendations are also being sent to the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
3) The independent review of the Prevent Strategy must work to build trust between institutions and the Muslim community in Birmingham and Tower Hamlets, with attention paid specifically to the role of Prevent within educational institutions. These recommendations have been sent to Sarah Owen MPs office for a report on Prevent and Trust.
4) Civil society organisations provide invaluable resources to the Bangladeshi community, particularly women and the elderly, which require investment. There was a widespread desire from participants for an increase in ESOL funding. These findings will be pursued with the Home Affairs Select Committee.
5) More resources need to be put into tackling hate crime at the local level. In particular it needs to be made easier to record hate crime to the police and more work needs to be
done in schools to challenge Islamophobia. 'Hostile Environment' immigration policies have created a climate of fear among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in the UK. The Government will not build trust with this community until the effect of such policies on Muslim communities is addressed. These findings have already been sent to Sarah Owen MPs office, as the Chair of the APPG on Hate Crime.
6) An article for the IOE Blog has been written on Covid-19 and British Bangladeshis, and this same evidence has been submitted to the APPG Coronavirus.
Sectors Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy
URL https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-and-centres/centres/thomas-coram-research-unit/our-research/migration-mobility-and-diversity/transnational-practices-local-settings
 
Description Economic and Social Impact This was a co-produced project, which took place in collaboration with two civil society organisations working with Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London and Birmingham - the Community Connect Foundation in Birmingham and the Swadhinata Trust in London. A Steering Committee was organised involving two representatives from each organisation: one senior manager and one other member of staff. This was to ensure that a decision-maker was on board but also to ensure that relationships were built with the organisations rather than just with individuals. The Steering Committee met roughly every six months (not including a period of interruption when the PI was on maternity leave) to discuss research developments and project findings. These activists and practitioners were essential in guiding the project development with locally informed knowledge and contacts. They also acted as project champions helping to recruit participants. The RA and the PI built on these relationships throughout the research to ensure possibilities for additional fieldwork (for example we added an additional field-site in Luton as a comparator to Tower Hamlets, and also took up numerous opportunities for ethnographic observation, at events such as the British Bangladesh Power and Inspiration Awards, to extend our networks and deepen our understanding). Contacts with a broader range of Civil Society organisations were developed through the course of the research (such as the Brick Lane Circle in London and the Centre for Youth and Community Development in Luton). The two end of project workshops with practitioners and participants in London and Birmingham provided an opportunity to engage a broader range of groups, such as these, beyond the Steering Committee. The workshops brought the findings together, drew recommendations for policy in each field site, and provided the participants and practitioners with an opportunity to feed back into the research process. Three working papers, targeted specifically to Civil Society organisations (one for London, one for Birmingham and one for Luton) were disseminated during these workshops, and then reproduced for policy-makers drawing on workshop discussions. A number of local Labour councillors were present at the Tower Hamlets event and a follow-up meeting was arranged with two local councillors to discuss how findings could be implemented in Tower Hamlets and incorporated into the election campaign/s for the 2022 local election. We also delivered findings at public engagement events such as the Brick Lane Circle Bengali History Week event. This work ensured findings could be fed back to as wide a range of constituents among the Bangladeshi community in London, Luton and Birmingham as possible. The civil society practitioners and activists who co-produced the research benefitted from a comparative examination of obstacles to, and opportunities for, political participation and effective citizenship in the three field-sites. All of these events were well attended and we received a lot of positive feedback from members of the community who were keen to see us take our findings forward with policymakers. - Instrumental Impact Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we had to move the parliamentary roundtable conference online after a lot of discussions with MPs from different constituencies. Presentations on project findings and associated policy recommendations were delivered to practitioners at the end of project workshops and to ensure impacts on policy materialised, a virtual policymaker roundtable was organised with policy contacts in December 2020. This was a small targeted event with key contacts developed during the course of the research. Policymakers were provided with a better understanding of the opportunities and constraints to 'effective citizenship' among Bangladeshi Muslim populations, which we hope will be used to help inform medium-term research and policy directions, both nationally and internationally. The PI and the research team presented the findings and shared the recommendations to Stephen Timms (All-Party Parliamentary Group [APPG] on Faith and Society), Sarah Owen (APPG for Hate Crime) and Khalid Mahmood (APPG International Relations). Parliamentarians gave video-quotes during and after the virtual roundtable event which document the value of our research for their policy work. The dialogue started with an agreement (on the project's recommendations) and with remarks from Khalid Mahmood MP that "there are issues in terms of Islamophobia and Muslim hatred that we need to addresswhat we're doing at the moment is that we're selling our children down the road." Like Mahmood, Stephen Timms MP described the project as a "fascinating piece of work." Before closing the event, Timms said, "I'd love toengage more with it." The MPs from London and Luton invited the PI to submit pieces of evidence. In a follow-up meeting with Timms on the 4th of January 2021, he said "the project's recommendations are good and interesting". In terms of shaping policies, he encouraged the PI to send evidence on recommendations such as mandating name blind job applications, and improving mentoring support, to the Work and Pensions Select Committee, which he chairs. Such pieces of evidence he suggested would help shape the labour market manifesto. He also suggested findings on ESOL would interest the Home Affairs Select Committee and the Education Committee (because there is cross-party support for this issue) and findings on the impact of Covid-19 on the British Bangladeshi community would interest the Health Select Committee. In addition, in a follow-up meeting with Sarah Own MP (Luton) on the 27th of January 2021, Owen stated that the project's findings "resonated with my experience", particularly in terms of ESOL and isolation among some communities and community organisations bridging the gap in Luton. When the PI talked about the impact of discrimination in employment creating a bottleneck between higher education and employment for British Bangladeshis (discrimination at the application stage but also in relation to promotion, retention and pay), Owen agreed and said, "some of the recommendations could go to them [trade unions] in order to change work cultures and improve social mobility." Owen also stated that the findings on 'protective transnationalism' (see Key Findings section) were shocking but again "resonate with my knowledge of hate crime post Brexit". As the Chair of the APPG Hate Crime, Owen invited the PI to submit pieces of evidence. She also asked for anonymised data on Prevent, which was sent to her office, to incorporate into a report she is writing on the policy. Owen also asked the PI to submit evidence on the poor Covid-19 outcomes among British Bangladeshis, which was also sent to her office, for another report on vaccine mistrust and ethnicity. The online parliamentary event, and continued discussion with key contacts, has demonstrated the importance of collecting evidence on the citizenship experiences of Bangladesh-origin Muslims as a resource for policymakers. We hope to continue working with these contacts in the coming months. Since the Parliamentary event we have submitted evidence to the APPG on Coronavirus, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the People's Review of Prevent and we have had our work directly cited by the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee, in the recent review of Family Migration entitled 'All Families Matter'.
First Year Of Impact 2020
Sector Communities and Social Services/Policy
Impact Types Societal,Policy & public services
 
Description House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee - Family Migration
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Citation in other policy documents
URL https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/519/justice-and-home-affairs-committee/publications/
 
Description Submission of evidence on racial discrimination towards Bangladeshi Muslims in the UK, to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
URL https://www.runnymedetrust.org/publications/civil-society-report-to-united-nations-cerd
 
Description Submission of evidence to APPG Coronavirus in relation to reasons for especially poor Covid-19 outcomes among British Bangladeshis.
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
URL https://www.appgcoronavirus.uk/
 
Description Submission to the People's Review of Prevent
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
URL https://peoplesreviewofprevent.org/
 
Description CICADA-ME: Coronavirus Intersectionalities: Chronic Conditions and Disabilities And Migrants and other Ethnic minorities
Amount £692,490 (GBP)
Funding ID NIHR132914 
Organisation National Institute for Health Research 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 05/2021 
End 10/2022
 
Description Making America Great: Examining the Race-Religion-Nation Nexus (PoliticoReligion)
Amount £269,692 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/X027740/1 
Organisation Marie Curie 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2022 
End 08/2026
 
Description UCL Health of the Public Grant
Amount £17,596 (GBP)
Funding ID 19673/001 
Organisation University College London 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2021 
End 06/2021
 
Description Community Connect Foundation 
Organisation Community Connect Foundation
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution My research team has been engaged in fieldwork with the Bengali community which we hope will be of benefit to the Community Connect Foundation in terms of the services they offer and their understanding of community needs.
Collaborator Contribution Community Connect Foundation was on the project Steering Committee which met every 6 months to discuss project design and delivery. They also helped us with access to 54 interviewees in the Aston and Smethwick area of Birmingham (20 dyad interviews, 6 narrative interviews and 8 interviews with members of civil society). They also co-organized a workshop in October 2019 to discuss project findings. This ensured that the findings were able to reach participants but also wider members of the Bengali community in Birmingham. Findings from this workshop were included in the Birmingham policy brief which was presented to policy-makers in the Parliamentary Roundtable in December 2020
Impact Redclift, V., Rajina, F and Rashid, N. (2022) 'The Burden of Conviviality: British Bangladeshi Muslims navigating diversity in London, Luton and Birmingham'. Sociology, 56 (6): 1159-1175 *Shortlisted for the Sage Prize for Innovation/Excellence. Redclift, V (2022) Abjects or Agents? Camps, contests, and the creation of 'political space.' In Anthropological Theory for the 21st Century: A Critical Approach. Edited by A. Lynn Bolles, R.Gomberg-Muñoz, B.Perley, K.Vacanti Brondo. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Anand, K and Redclift, V (2022) Experiences of British Bangladeshi Muslims in Higher Education Institutions in the United Kingdom. RSSSR 32, Special Section on Religion in Higher Education. Redclift, V., and Rajina, F (2021) 'The hostile environment, Brexit and 'reactive' or 'protective' transnationalism', Global Networks, 21 (1): 196-214 Redclift, V., (2021) 'Displacement, integration and identity in the postcolonial world' in The 1947 Partition in the East: Trends and Trajectories. London: Routledge Redclift, V and Rajina, F (2020) Transnational Practices in Local Settings: Experiences of Citizenship among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London. IoE Policy Brief. Redclift, V and Rajina, F (2020) Transnational Practices in Local Settings: Experiences of Citizenship among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in Luton. IoE Policy Brief. Redclift, V and Rajina, F (2020) Transnational Practices in Local Settings: Experiences of Citizenship among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in Birmingham. IoE Policy Brief. Redclift, V., (2018) 'Re-bordering camp and city: 'Race', space and citizenship in Dhaka', The Sage Handbook of the 21st Century City. London: Sage. Redclift, V. and Rajina, F (2017), 'Rethinking Muslim Migration: Frameworks, flux and fragmentation', Ethnic and Racial Studies Review, 40 (3) Redclift, V., (2016), 'The de-mobilization of diaspora: History, memory and 'latent identity'', Global Networks, 17 (4) Disciplines: Sociology and Migration Studies
Start Year 2016
 
Description Contribution of research data to National Portrait Gallery Bangladesh 50 Years Project 
Organisation National Portrait Gallery
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution As part of the National Portrait Gallery, Bangladesh 50 Years project, we have contributed some of our Tower Hamlets data to their oral history archive. As a result of her involvement in this project Dr Fatima Rajina was asked to be on the Steering Committee of the NPG Bangladesh 50 years project.
Collaborator Contribution Some of our data has been included in the oral history archive which has been used to create public realm artwork to commemorate 50 years of Bangladesh independence. Originally planned to be an exhibition of art, research and archive material at Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives, the artwork has evolved to be outdoors, suspended from the Tower Hamlets Idea Store (library) to ensure public and local residents can safely access and experience the installation.
Impact The NPG Bangladesh 50 Years Project will be completed in 2021 but the artwork will be displayed to the public until June 2023
Start Year 2020
 
Description House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee - Family Migration - Minimum Income Requirement 
Organisation House of Lords
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution I submitted evidence from the project on the Minimum Income Requirement (MIR) to the Justice and Home Affairs Committee enquiry into Family Migration.
Collaborator Contribution A report citing my submission of evidence has been published by the House of Lords entitled 'All Families Matter: An Inquiry into Family Migration'.
Impact 'All Families Matter: An Inquiry into Family Migration'. Published by the authority of the House of Lords in February 2023.
Start Year 2022
 
Description Submission of evidence to APPG Coronavirus 
Organisation Parliament of UK
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Submission of evidence to APPG Coronavirus in relation to reasons for especially poor Covid-19 outcomes among British Bangladeshis
Collaborator Contribution The APPG Coronavirus accepted our submission of evidence. It is not yet known how is been translated into impact.
Impact The APPG Coronavirus is still taking evidence so there are no outcomes to report yet.
Start Year 2021
 
Description Submission of evidence to Civil Society Submission of Evidence on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) 
Organisation Runnymede Trust
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Submission of evidence on racial discrimination towards Bangladesh-origin Muslims in the UK, as it relates to a) Hate Crime and discrimination b) Education and c) Employment was submitted to the Runnymede Trust call for evidence.
Collaborator Contribution The Runnymede Trust acted as the curators of evidence submitted by a broad coalition of organisations, on the Equality and Human Rights Commission's (EHRC) procedural request to conduct an independent civil society review on the state's progress on race and racism in England over the past 4 years. The report was curated with evidence from over 100 civil society organisations across the country and was endorsed by 78 NGOs and race equality organisations.
Impact The report was published in 2021 - it is available for the public to read on the Runnymede Trust website and it has been sent to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
Start Year 2021
 
Description Swadhinata Trust 
Organisation The Swadhinata Trust
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution My research team has been engaged in fieldwork with the Bengali community which we hope will be of benefit to the Swadhinata Trust in terms of the services they offer and their understanding of community needs.
Collaborator Contribution The Swadhinata Trust was a member of project Steering Committee which met every 6 months to discuss project findings and possibilities for increasing impact. The Swadhinata Trust also helped with access during the fieldwork phase. In total 40 interviewees participated in Tower Hamlets in 25 interviews (15 dyad interviews, 5 narrative interviews and 5 civil society interviews). They also co-organized a workshop in January 2020 at the Bangla Press Club in London to discuss project findings. This ensured that the findings were able to reach participants but also wider members of the Bengali community in London. Findings from this workshop were included in the Tower Hamlets policy brief which was presented to policy-makers in the Parliamentary Roundtable in December 2020
Impact Redclift, V., Rajina, F and Rashid, N. (2022) 'The Burden of Conviviality: British Bangladeshi Muslims navigating diversity in London, Luton and Birmingham'. Sociology, 56 (6): 1159-1175 *Shortlisted for the Sage Prize for Innovation/Excellence. Redclift, V (2022) Abjects or Agents? Camps, contests, and the creation of 'political space.' In Anthropological Theory for the 21st Century: A Critical Approach. Edited by A. Lynn Bolles, R.Gomberg-Muñoz, B.Perley, K.Vacanti Brondo. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Anand, K and Redclift, V (2022) Experiences of British Bangladeshi Muslims in Higher Education Institutions in the United Kingdom. RSSSR 32, Special Section on Religion in Higher Education. Redclift, V., and Rajina, F (2021) 'The hostile environment, Brexit and 'reactive' or 'protective' transnationalism', Global Networks, 21 (1): 196-214 Redclift, V., (2021) 'Displacement, integration and identity in the postcolonial world' in The 1947 Partition in the East: Trends and Trajectories. London: Routledge Redclift, V and Rajina, F (2020) Transnational Practices in Local Settings: Experiences of Citizenship among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London. IoE Policy Brief. Redclift, V and Rajina, F (2020) Transnational Practices in Local Settings: Experiences of Citizenship among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in Luton. IoE Policy Brief. Redclift, V and Rajina, F (2020) Transnational Practices in Local Settings: Experiences of Citizenship among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in Birmingham. IoE Policy Brief. Redclift, V., (2018) 'Re-bordering camp and city: 'Race', space and citizenship in Dhaka', The Sage Handbook of the 21st Century City. London: Sage. Redclift, V. and Rajina, F (2017), 'Rethinking Muslim Migration: Frameworks, flux and fragmentation', Ethnic and Racial Studies Review, 40 (3) Redclift, V., (2016), 'The de-mobilization of diaspora: History, memory and 'latent identity'', Global Networks, 17 (4)
Start Year 2016
 
Description 'Displacement, integration and identity in the postcolonial world' Identities Blog 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The PI was asked to write for the Identities Blog - based on an article which was published by the journal in 2015
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.identitiesjournal.com/blog-collection/displacement-integration-and-identity-in-the-postc...
 
Description 'Re-bordering camp and city', Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin, October 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact An international presentation was given on 'Re-bordering Camp and City' at the Annual Conference on South Asia held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description 'Remembering the Liberation War: Transnationalism and racism in 1971' Online conference presentation at the University of Northumbria, August 2021 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact An online presentation was given on 'Remembering the Liberation War: Transnationalism and Racism in 1971' in an interdisciplinary conference on Transnationalism and Diaspora Politics and Activism at the University of Northumbria in August 2021 - with Fatima Rajina, Stephen Lawrence Research Unit, De Montfort University.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description 'The Burden of Conviviality', Urban Muslimness Panel Event, De Montfort University, May 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact A online panel event, broadcast over YouTube, on 'The Burden of Conviviality' for an event on Urban Muslimness, organized by the Stephen Lawrence Research Unit, De Montfort University. Members of the (international) audience have requested more information from us since the event, including the journal article on which it was based, which has since been shortlisted for a Sage Prize for Innovation/Excellence.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUJeFhHLxfc
 
Description Article in Independent 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Ethnic minority members of LGBT+ communities are being left behind by government policy and wider society with a long-term effect on their wellbeing, according to a groundbreaking new report led by researchers at UCL and KCL. Article by Nadine White - Race Correspondent for the Independent
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lgbt-ethnic-minorities-uk-study-b2015465.html
 
Description Bengal History Week - Brick Lane Circle 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The PI and RA gave a presentation as part of Bengal History Week in Tower Hamlets, part of Black History Month. The presentation was filmed by the Brick Lane Circle and therefore reaches a broader audience of (largely Bangladesh-origin) members of the general public. The audience reported having not known about the scale of 'protective transnationalism' reported in our paper.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Birmingham Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact The Birmingham end of project workshop with practitioners and participants was held at the offices of our partner the Community Connect Foundation in Smethwick on the 22nd October 2019. Members of the Bangladesh-origin community across Birmingham were invited, which provided an opportunity to engage a broader range of participants beyond those connected to the Steering Committee and those directly involved in the project. The workshop included a presentation of key findings, and drew together recommendations for policy in this particular field site, and provided the participants and practitioners with an opportunity to feed back into the research process. A working paper, targeted specifically to Civil Society organisations in the local area, was disseminated during the workshop. Feedback from participants was garnered in relation to issues to pursue at the follow-up event which is a Policy-maker round-table scheduled for June 2020.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019
 
Description Interview in International Affairs Forum 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The PI gave an interview on the research to the International Affairs Forum for a special edition on 'A World on the Move: Migration and Statelessness', International Affairs Forum, 1 (1): 35-40.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Meeting with Sarah Owen MP 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact On the 27th January we held a follow-up meeting with Sarah Owen MP, who was particularly interested in our findings on 'Protective Transnationalism' in the wake of a rise in anti-Muslim hate crime which relates to the 'Hostile Environment' immigration policy and also Brexit. These findings 'resonated with her knowledge and experience' as Chair of the APPG on Hate Crime. She asked us to share our report with her assistant, which we did, and she will contact us when the APPG on Hate Crime reconvenes. She is also working on a report on Prevent and asked us to share some of our anonymised data on Prevent for that report, which we did. She was also very interested in the Covid-19 implications of our findings and asked us to send her something on this because she is putting together a report on vaccine mistrust and ethnicity which our findings can feed into. We sent her an overview of our findings in relation to British Bangladesh Covid-19 outcomes.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Meeting with Stephen Timms MP 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact In January 2021 we held a follow-up meeting with Stephen Timms MP to discuss how we could pursue our findings with policy-makers. He said our findings were 'good and interesting' and was particularly keen to follow up on our findings on discrimination in employment, suggesting he would take them to the Work and Pensions Select Committee which he chairs. He said we should send the Work and Pensions Select Committee something on mandating name-blind CVs (one of our policy recommendations), so that he can take that forward. He also recommended that we send our findings on ESOL to the Home Affairs Select Committee and the Education Committee because there is cross-party support for policy change here.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Policymaker Roundtable 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact A policymaker roundtable was held with MPs who represent our three field sites - Khalid Mahmood MP, who represents Birmingham Perry Barr; Sarah Owen MP, who represents Luton South; Stephen Timms MP, who represents East Ham (the MP for Tower Hamlets Rushanara Ali had hoped to attend but was caught up in Coronavirus-related issues and Stephen Timms was the East London MP with the most relevant background and experience to replace her). These three MPs also matched up substantively with the project extremely well. Khalid Mahmood is the Chair of the APPG on International Relations, Sarah Owen is the Chair of the APPG on Hate Crime, and Stephen Timms is the Chair of the APPG on Faith and Society - collective interests which cover many of the issues to do with discrimination, anti-Muslim hate crime, and transnationalism explored by the project. The roundtable was extremely successful and both Stephen Timms and Sarah Owen requested follow up meetings to discuss the issues raised in more depth.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Redclift, V. and Anand, K (2021) 'Why do British Bangladeshis have some of the worst Covid outcomes in the UK?' IOE Blog 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Findings form the project were disseminated as an Institute of Education Blog. The IOE Blog has a wide audience of students and staff at the IOE and across UCL as well as schools and even the general public.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Steering Committee Meetings 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Steering Committee meetings every six months. Two organizations have been asked to participate in an advisory capacity as part of a Steering Committee: In Birmingham, the Community Connect Foundation in Smethwick has been chosen because of it's work in social welfare programs, advice, counselling, citizenship education and training to the Bangladeshi community. In London, the Swadhinata Trust has been chosen, which is active in the areas of civic participation and Bengali cultural history.
Steering Committee meetings initially discussed the data collection strategy to include the stakeholders in the project design but more recently have discussed early findings as well as the dissemination strategy and the pathways to impact.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016,2017,2018,2019,2020
 
Description Submission of evidence to APPG Coronavirus in relation to reasons for especially poor Covid-19 outcomes among British Bangladeshis 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Submission of two page report on reasons for poor Covid-19 outcomes among British Bangladeshis to APPG Coronavirus
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Submission of evidence to Civil Society Submission of Evidence on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Submission of evidence on racial discrimination towards Bangladesh-origin Muslims in the UK, as it relates to a) Hate Crime and discrimination b) Education and c) Employment was submitted to the Runnymede Trust call for evidence.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description Submission to the People's Review of Prevent 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact I submitted evidence to the People's Review on Prevent from the UK data. Specifically data which was coded as 'issues of trust raised by Prevent' and later data coded as 'the relationship between Prevent and Islamophobia'.
This data was incorporated into the People's Review on Prevent report.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://peoplesreviewofprevent.org/
 
Description Tower Hamlets Workshop - London Bangla Press Club 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact The Tower Hamlets end of project workshop with practitioners and participants was held at the Bangla Press Club on the 22nd January 2020. Members of the Bangladesh-origin community across London were invited, which provided an opportunity to engage a broader range of participants beyond those connected to the Steering Committee and those directly involved in the project. The workshop included a presentation of key findings, and drew together recommendations for policy in this particular field site, and provided the participants and practitioners with an opportunity to feed back into the research process. A working paper, targeted specifically to Civil Society organisations in the local area, was disseminated during the workshop. Feedback from participants was garnered in relation to issues to pursue at the follow-up event which is a Policy-maker round-table scheduled for June 2020. Three Tower Hamlets councillors attended as well as a representative of the Foreign Office and a number of community leaders. It was filmed for Bengali TV stations - Channel S and Bangla TV and attended by journalists from Londonbdnews24 among others.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Website 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Project website - blog entries on a regular basis and working papers uploaded. Through the website, we have been contacted by audience members to be included as participants.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022
URL https://transnationalism.wixsite.com/tpls