‘Hot Periods’ Of Anti-Minority Activism
This project will generate new policy- and practice-relevant insight about the pathways towards and away from violence during ‘hot periods’ of anti-minority activism.
Communities, Politics and Identities
Our research explores communities, in all their forms, geographical, virtual, interest groups, professional communities, at a variety of scales from the local and national to the international. Communities are challenged through: demographic change; economic and heath shocks; by strained social relations; living with social media and mis-information; political radicalization of various forms; political populism and polarization; natural hazards and climate change; and the relationship between civil society and the state. Such challenges are negotiated within the context of global events and narratives, and impact on the identities of individuals, their communities and other networks.
About us
To appreciate how communities deal with such challenges and indeed opportunities, the Communities, Politics and Identities Research Group is committed to research rooted in local knowledge, collaboration, and the lived experience of residents. Communities may be defined by interest, commonality, or spatial units. They are viewed as sites of conflict and accommodation. The group critically engages with concepts of community by providing space for the deconstruction of such commonly held definitions.
We employ established and emerging theoretical frameworks and multi-disciplinary person-centred approaches to analyse key thematic areas. This includes: identities and belonging; trust and security; democratic renewal, power and governance; coexistence and managing difference; radicalisation and extremist behaviours; resilience to and preparedness for disasters; intersectionality; creative, participatory and arts-based methods. In doing so we provide an evidence base which can assists communities in shaping, and successfully adapting, to change. Our challenge-led research is driven by a desire to provide excellent theoretical and empirical outputs with impact.
Our team
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Hazel Barrett, ProfessorFGM and communities, human geography, health and rural development |
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Imogen Baylis, Research AssistantCommunity organising, community development, 'empowerment', social cohesion, structural inequality |
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Joel Busher, Director of Research ExcellenceAnti-minority mobilisation, gang violence, gender |
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Mateja Celestina, Assistant ProfessorDisplacement, Belonging, Place, Memory, Identity and identification |
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Malte Gembus, Postdoctoral Research FellowYouth Work, Intergenerationality, Migration, Diaspora, and Memory |
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Mike Hardy, ProfessorIntercultural dialogue, Development of European Index of Social Integration, Foreign Policy Interventions |
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Sebastian Hicks, Assistant ProfessorSchool of Arts and Design |
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Durukan Kuzu, Assistant ProfessorDiversity governance, comparative politics, political behaviour and minority nationalism, ethnicity and race, human rights |
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Helen Liebling, Assistant ProfessorSurvivors of conflict, post-conflict sexual and gender-based violence in Africa and the UK, Refugees and Asylum Seekers |
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Marisa McGlinchey, Assistant ProfessorUK devolution; Basque politics: Irish republicanism: political 'dissidence' |
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EJ Milne, Associate ProfessorYoung people, Community development, Arts-based Inquiry, Creative Methods, Refugee and migrant backgrounds |
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Tamlyn Monson, Research FellowMigration, citizenship, politics of place, governance, stakeholder engagement, South Africa and the UK |
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Ann-Marie Nienaber, Professor (Research group leader)(Dis)trust, sustainability, human-computer interaction, organisational change |
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Matt Qvortrup, ProfessorPolitical Science, referendums; peace and governance; terrorism |
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Charis Rice, Assistant ProfessorPolitical communication, journalism, trust, divided societies, insider threat |
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Kindy Sandhu, Postdoctoral Research FellowAusterity, Intersectionality, Domestic Abuse, Race, Gender |
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Gavin Sullivan, ProfessorSocial and political psychology, collective memory and emotions |
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Susanne Wessendorf, ProfessorMigration, diversity, urban ethnography, social inclusion, exclusion |
Project spotlight
AIMEC
AIMEC investigates how newcomers in European cities find information about settlement, and how long-established residents, including those with a migration background, support newcomers.
Call the Midwives
‘Call the Midwives’: This research was supported by the Coventry City of Culture Fund. Working with community partner Foleshill Women’s training, this oral history project unearths Coventry’s South Asian women’s ‘hidden histories’ of seeking health care including childbirth and antenatal care.
TInnGO
TInnGO is a 3 years research project aiming to create a framework and mechanisms for a sustainable game change in European transport through a transformative strategy of gender and diversity sensitive smart mobility.
Sexual and Gender-based Violence and Torture Experiences of South Sudanese Refugees in Northern Uganda
This research investigated the health and justice service responses to the needs of South Sudanese refugees living in refugee settlements in Northern Uganda who had been subjected to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and torture.
WASH
Landscape Analysis of Barriers to inclusion faced by people with disabilities and older people in Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) humanitarian programming in Central Darfur State, Sudan.
Past events
Research as cultural practice; giving space and voice to the seldom heard
24th June 2021
Early findings from the 'Call the Midwives' project were presented at the AHRC Cities of Culture Coventry Cultural Policy and Evaluation Summit as part of the panel chaired by Professor Neil Forbes: Director Institute for Creative Cultures, Coventry University.
‘Arrival Infrastructures and Migrant Newcomers in European Cities’ (AIMEC) launch event
26th April 2021
As part of the launch of this ESRC funded project, the AIMEC team presented the project to a group of 40-50 international scholars and discussed, in workshop format, the advantages and disadvantages of investigating migrant arrival through the lens of arrival infrastructures.
Social exclusion, symbolic boundaries and convivial labour in East London’s context of
ongoing immigration
26th February 2021
Professor Susanne Wessendorf presented her work on ethnic minorities’ reactions to newcomers in East London to the University of British Columbia’s UBC Centre for Migration Studies' Mobilities Group.
Unfinished Business; the politics of ‘dissident’ Irish republicanism
14th December 2020
In the wake of the book winning the Brian Farrell Book Prize, Marisa McGlinchey was invited to participate in the Interdisciplinary Seminar Series by the Department of Political Science and the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at Trinity College Dublin.
The Impact of Covid-19 on FGM in the Arab States Region
23rd November 2020
Organised by UNFPA/UNICEF, Hazel Barrett attended and presented her research 'The FGM-Migration Matrix: The case of the Arab League Region' during this global webinar.
Geneva Peace Week 2020: Adaptive Leadership in Support of Sustaining Peace in a Pandemic Environment
5th November 2020
Professor Mike Hardy was invited to be a panel member for a session exploring essential adaptive leadership principles that are required to steer peacebuilding and peace operations through a major disruptive event like the COVID-19 experience.
Contributing to the social inclusion of refugees and migrants in Europe through interreligious and intercultural dialogue
3rd - 4th November 2020
Dr Helen Liebling was invited and participated in 2nd European Policy Dialogue Forum on Refugees and Migrants. This included assisting to draft three policy recommendations on improving support for refugees in the EU. She has also been invited to be part of a working group this year that will refine the three policy recommendations for dissemination and implementation in Europe and beyond.
The Implementation of Organisational Change in Local Authority to enhance their Resilience and Capacity to Cope with Future Challenges
30th June 2020
Keynote Prof Ann-Marie Nienaber at the Opening Event of the SUMP –Academy (Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning) in Germany. More than 500 people from politics and public sector (i.e. mayor, head of departments in the transport field) were participating.
