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Mr Leon Moosavi

Thesis Working Title

Defying Gravity: 'Race', Islamophobia and Belonging in the Experiences of Muslim Converts in Britain

Research Interests

I am currently in the fourth year of a 1+3 ESRC-funded PhD. I aim to submit my thesis in September 2011. My research is about the experiences of Muslim converts in Britain in relation to debates about white privilege, belonging, performance and Islamophobia. I am supervised by Anne-Marie Fortier. I was also supervised by Nayanika Mookherjeeuntil she recently left the department.

My general research interests are:

Conversion to Islam

Muslim converts

Islam/Muslims in Britain and 'the West'

Islamophobia, prejudice, discrimination, 'race', racism, sectarianism

'Whiteness', white privilege

Multiculturalism, Nationalism

Performance of identities

Boundaries/Belonging/Borders

Current Teaching

I have taught undergraduate seminars for three years on the following courses:

Sociology 101 - Introduction to Sociology

Sociology 209 - Advertising & Consumer Culture

Other Interests and Hobbies

Media Appearances

In January 2011, I was invited as a guest on Press TV, to discuss Islamophobia in the media. You can find the first part of the discussion here and follow it through to the other parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZefa0gv4Oc

In January 2011 I appeared twice on BBC One discussing my research, which you can view here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCziyUVnj30 and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH1JFuedSGo

In January 2011, I was invited to attend the BBC's The Big Questions. You can watch my contribution here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRcXjvrsLj8

In January 2011, I was interviewed about my PhD research on BBC Radio Manchester and BBC Radio Lancashire. You can listen to the interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ6hAVRRgME

I was interviewed on the Guardian's Islamophonic programme in Feb 2009 about my PhD research. You can hear my interview about 10 minutes into the programme: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2009/feb/02/islamophonic-converting-islam

Publications

I have several forthcoming publications including:

• A book chapter entitled: 'Muslim Converts & Islamophobia in Britain' that will be appearing in a book called: 'The Sociology of Islam: Secularism, Economy and Politics' (Ithaca Press, 2011).
• A journal article entitled: British Muslim Converts Performing 'Authentic Muslimness'.
• A conference proceedings paper entitled: 'Conversion to Islam in Britain'.
• A book chapter entitled: 'Islamophobia Since 9/11: Experiences of Muslim Converts in Britain'.
• A journal article entitled:'White Privilege and White Dis-Privilege in the Lives of Muslim Converts in Britain'.

I have written a book review of Derek McGhee's The End of Multiculturalism: Terrorism, Integration and Human Rights which is available here: www.socresonline.org.uk/16/1/reviews/2.html

I have written an article about my on-going PhD research entitled Manifestations of Islamophobia and the Loyalty of Muslim Converts which can be read here: http://sociologicalimagination.org/posts/leon-moosavi/manifestations-of-islamophobia-and-the-loyalty-of-muslim-converts/

I have written an article based on my MA dissertation entitled: 'The Representation of Islam and Muslims by the British Government' that was published in the Sociology of Islam newsletter which can be accessed here: http://www.sociologyofislam.org/pdf/Summer_2009.pdf.

Conference Papers

July 2007 - 'Using Discourse Analysis to Understand Representations of Islam'.'Postgraduate Summer Conference', Sociology Department, Lancaster University.

July 2008 - 'Conform to our Tolerance or Get Lost! Representations of Islam and Muslims by the British Government'.'Postgraduate Summer Conference', Sociology Department, Lancaster University.

September 2008 - 'Representations of Islam and Muslims by the British Government'. 'Representing Islam: Comparative Perspectives', Centre for Russian & Eurasian Studies, University of Manchester.

April 2009 - 'Reflections on Researching Muslim Converts'.'Researching Muslims in Britain', Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK, Cardiff University.

July 2009 - 'Coming Out Of The Closet: Muslim Converts Experiencing the Instersections of Islamophobia, Racism and Sexism'.'Postgraduate Summer Conference', Sociology Department, Lancaster University.

April 2010 - 'Postcolonial Islamophobia', 'Postcolonialism and Islam', Northern Association for Postcolonial Studies, University of Sunderland.

May 2010 - 'Boundary Construction in the Lives of Muslim Converts', 'Integration and Difference: Crossing Boundaries?', School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Exeter.

June 2010 - 'The Belonging of Muslim converts in Britain: Traitors or Loyal Patriots?', 'Lancaster Sociology Summer Conference', Sociology Department, Lancaster University.

August 2010 - 'Muslim Converts and Whiteness: Confirming or Rejecting White Privilege?', 'New Territories in Critical Whiteness Studies', White Spaces Research Network, University of Leeds.

February 2011 - 'Conversion to Islam in Britain', 'Globalization and Localization: Problems of Religious Conversion in Europe. Historical and Contemporary Examples', Latvian Academia of Sciences

April 2011 - 'Muslim Converts, Goffman and Bourdieu: Performing an 'Islamic Habitus' to Achieve 'Authentic Muslimness'', 'British Sociological Association's Annual Sociology of Religion Study Group', Birmingham

The next conference I am due to present my work at is in Switzerland in October 2011

Associated research centres: Centre for Gender and Women's Studies, Greater Middle East and Islamic Studies Network

Keywords: Islam, Islamophobia, Minority ethnic communities, Race, Race and racism, Religion, Religion and society, Sociology of religion