Research Questions

Although research has drawn attention to the phenomenon of Islamophobia (e.g. Allen, 2010), very little has been said about how Islamophobia influences the lives of young people from diverse ethnic and religious groups who might be mistaken for being Muslim and how this relates to their feelings about those who affiliate with the Islamic faith. The unique aspect of this study is the inclusion of this category of young people as a focus of research. This novel project has four interrelated aims:

1. To explore the issue of Islamophobia in relation to the experiences of young people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds (aged 12-25) in Scotland who are targeted because they look Muslim (Alexander, 2004) and to explain how different religious, ethnic and minoritised youth experience and understand Islamophobia, and the impact of this on community relations, social cohesion and integration

2. To analyse these experiences within a framework that takes cognisance of the intersectionality of ethnicity with other relevant positionalities such as religion, gender, social class and locality (e.g. Hopkins, 2009; Mohammad 2001; Sanghera and Thapar-Bjorkert 2007)

3. To detail how young people understand and negotiate ‘everyday geopolitics’

4. To problematise polarised discourses which see young people as either politically disengaged and apathetic or politically radicalised and extreme


We aim to explore a number of questions:

  • How does the urban, suburban or rural context of young people’s everyday lives shape their experiences, understandings and responses to Islamophobia?
  • How do young people understand and engage with media representations of Muslims and minority ethnic people?
  • How are young people negotiating, mediating and resisting global, national, local and personal events? 
  • How do these events influence their sense of community and their family relationships?
  • What are the particularities of Islamophobia, for young people within the context of Scottish nationalism and multiculturalism?
  • What changes does this research suggest could be made to policy or practice to improve community relations in Scotland and wider UK?