Dr Nasar Meer

PhD, MsSc, BA

Senior Lecturer in Sociology

Contact details: Dept of Social Sciences Northumbria University Lipman Building Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST Tel: +44 (0)191 227 4704 nasar.meer@northumbria.ac.uk

Biography

Nasar joined the Department of Social Sciences in January 2011. He previously studied at Essex, Edinburgh, and Bristol Universities, and held a visiting fellowship with the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Studies, Harvard University, during his doctoral studies. Nasar currently holds a visiting fellowship with the University of Aarhus. Prior to joining Northumbria, Nasar worked at the University of Southampton and previously at the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship (CSEC) at the University of Bristol, where he worked on European Commission (FP6) funded research that examined the educational, legal and civic challenges posed by migration related diversity in Europe. He was also involved in a Leverhulme Trust funded inquiry into citizenship, religion and belonging in Britain and remains an honorary fellow.

Nasar's personal profile page is available at: www.nasarmeer.com

Qualifications

• PhD Sociology, University of Bristol 2007
• MsSc Social Research, University of Edinburgh 2002
• BA (Hons) Sociology & Politics, University of Essex 2001

Research and Consultancy

Research Interests

Nasar’s research explores the relationships between minority identities and citizenship programmes. He is particularly interested in arenas of education, anti-discrimination, political participation, and public and media representation. Other interests include a European reading of the African-American ‘founding figure’ of Sociology, W. E. B. Du Bois, as well as a focus upon the role of journalists as ‘public intellectuals’. He is also researching the sociology and politics of conceptualising racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, alongside an emerging interest in Scottish Nationhood. 

Nasar is interested in supervising PhD students on topics such as Race & Ethnicity; Citizenship; Identity; Islam; Print Media; Public Discourse, and Education.   

Research Projects

CIVITURN

Funded by the Globalisation Initiative (2009-11) and hosted at Aarhus University Faculty of Social Sciences.

This 'Citizenship Integration in Northwest European Migration Societies' project engages with the thesis, forwarded by Christian Joppke and others, that Western European migration policy is converging towards a liberal consensus of anti-discrimination rights and labour market participation. While some such tendencies are undisputable, the project endeavours to demonstrate that migration policies – comparatively studied in Denmark, Britain, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands across a range of policy areas including education and citizenship aspects – are not just ‘liberal’ but reflective of a civic or republican turn emphasising activity, autonomy, and ‘good’ citizenship. This is manifested in different ways according to national trajectories and public philosophies of integration (which are not the same as fixed archetype ‘national models’) in part to do with national conceptualisations of citizenship as a response to questions of unity, diversity and the accommodation or non-accommodation of Muslims. Moreover, these citizen integration strategies are not only nationally diverse, but indicative of national identity concerns/nationalism. The research is in continuation of a three-year EU-funded project (A European Approach to Multicultural Citizenship: Legal, Political and Educational Challenges) which focused on the experiences of Muslim and other migrant minorities in Europe.

Muslim Participation in Contemporary Governance (2010-2013)

Funded within the ESRC/AHRC Religion and Society Programme.

This 30-month qualitative research project (based at the University of Bristol, comprising Dr Therese O’Toole (PI), Professor Tariq Modood (CI), Dr Nasar Meer (University of Northumbria) investigates the emerging significance of Muslim religious values, practices and engagement within contemporary governance in the UK. It explores: how current government strategies and policies relating to citizenship recognise and respond to Muslim religious difference; how participatory forms of governance engage with Muslim groups, religious values and identities; and the impact of Muslims’ participation in governance on policy processes and outcomes and for the organisation of and relations between Muslim civil society organisations more broadly. The research will be based on analysis of policy documents and qualitative research on participatory governance initiatives at national and local levels. 

Publications

Journal Articles

Thompson, S., Martineau, W., Meer, N.  (forthcoming) 'Introduction: theory and practice in the politics of misrecognition', Res Publica.

Meer, N. (forthcoming) ‘Scales, Semantics, and Solidarities in the study of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia’, Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Meer, N. & Modood, T. (forthcoming 2012) ‘How does Interculturalism contrast with Multiculturalism?’, Journal of Intercultural Studies.

Modood, T. & Meer, N. (forthcoming 2012) 'Assessing the divergences on our reading of interculturalism and multiculturalism', Journal of Intercultural Studies.

Meer, N. (2012) ‘Misrecognising Muslim consciousness in Europe’, Ethnicities 12(2).

Meer, N. & Modood, T. (2011) Analysing the Growing Scepticism Towards the Idea of Islamophobia’, Arches Quarterly 4(7): 116-128.

Meer, N. (2011) ‘An Overview of Muslim-State Engagement in the UK’, Anglo Files 158: 16-32.

Meer, N., Dwyer, C. and Modood, T. (2010) ‘Beyond 'angry' Muslims - the representation of Muslim voices in the British press’ Journal of Media and Religion 9: 216-231 

Meer, N. (2010) ‘The impact of European Equality Directives upon British Anti-Discrimination Legislation’ Policy and Politics 38(1):197-216

Meer, N., Dwyer, C., and Modood, T. (2010) ‘Embodying Nationhood? Conceptions of British national identity, citizenship and gender in the 'veil affair'’ The Sociological Review 58(1):84-111

Meer, N. (2009) 'Identity articulations, mobilisation and autonomy in the movement for Muslim Schools in Britain' Race, Ethnicity and Education 12(3):379–398

Meer, N. and Modood, T. (2009) 'The multicultural state we’re in: Muslims, ‘multiculture’, and the Civic re-balancing of British multiculturalism' Political Studies 57(1):473-479

Meer, N. and Modood. T (2009) 'Refutations of racism in the ‘Muslim Question'' Patterns of Prejudice 43(3/4):332-351

Meer, N. and Mouristen, P. (2009) ‘Political Cultures Compared’ Ethnicities 9(3):334-360

Meer, N. (2008) ‘The politics of voluntary and involuntary identities: are Muslims in Britain an ethnic, racial or religious minority?’ Patterns of Prejudice 41(5):61-81

Meer, N. and Noorani, T. (2008) ‘A sociological comparison of anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim sentiment’ The Sociological Review 56(2):195-219

Meer, N. and Modood, T. (2008) ‘British multiculturalism and her Muslims’ Global Dialogue 9(3):87-99

Meer, N. (2007) ‘Muslim Schools in Britain: challenging mobilisations or logical developments?’ Asia-Pacific Journal of Education 27(1):55-71

Meer, N. (2007) ‘Less equal than others? Thirty years after the Race Relations Act’, Index on Censorship 36(2):114-118

Meer, N. (2006) ‘Get off your knees’ - Print media public intellectuals and Muslims in Britain’ Journalism Studies 7(1): 35-59

Editorials

Meer, N. (Ed.) (forthcoming) 'The Role of Racialization in Religion – contemporary anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim sentiment', special issue of Ethnic & Racial Studies.

Thompson, S., Meer, N. & Martineau, W. (eds) (forthcoming) 'The Politics of Misrecognition', special issue of Res Publica.

Meer, N., Martineau, W. & Thompson, S. (forthcoming 2012) 'Introduction: Misrecognition and ethno-religious diversity', special issue of Ethnicities, 12 (2)

Books

Meer, N. (under contract) Race and Ethnicity Key Concepts Series. Sage

Tryandifillidou, A., Modood, T., and Meer, N. (eds) (2011) European Multiculturalism(s): Cultural, Religious and Ethnic Challenges  Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Meer, N. (2011) Sociology for Dummies John Wiley

Meer, N. (2010) Citizenship, Identity & the Politics of Multiculturalism Basingstoke: Palgrave

Book Chapters

Meer, N. and Modood, T. (forthcoming) 'Contemporary developments in European citizenship regimes', in D. Kiwan (Ed.) Naturalization Policies, Education and Citizenship: Multicultural and Multi-nation Societies in International Perspective. Palgrave

Meer, N. (forthcoming) 'Negotiating faith and politics: the emergence of Muslim consciousness in Britain', in W. Ahmed & Z. Sardar (eds), Muslims in Britain: Making Social and Political Space. Routledge.

Modood, T. & Meer, N. (forthcoming) 'Multiculturalism', in The Oxford Companion to Comparative Politics. Oxford University Press.

Triandafyllidou, A., Modood, T. & Meer, N. (2011) 'Introduction: Diversity, Integration, Secularism and Multiculturalism', in A. Triandafyllidou, T. Modood & N. Meer (eds), European Multiculturalism(s): Cultural, Religious and Ethnic Challenges. Edinburgh University Press.

Meer, N. and Modood. T. (forthcoming) ‘The multicultural states we’re in’, in: Tryandifillidou, A,. Modood, T. and Meer, N. (eds) European Multiculturalism(s): Cultural, Religious and Ethnic Challenges Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Modood, T. and Meer, N. (forthcoming) ‘Framing Multicultural Citizenship in Europe’, in: Tryandifillidou, A,. Modood, T. and Meer, N. (eds) European Multiculturalism(s): Cultural, Religious and Ethnic Challenges Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Uberoi, V., Meer, N., Modood, T. and Dwyer, C. (forthcoming) ‘Feeling and Being British and Muslim’, in: Modood, T. and Salt, J. (eds) Global Migration and Citizenship: The UK Experience Palgave

Meer, N. (2011) 'Overcoming the Injuries of Double Consciousness', in S. Thompson & M. Yar (eds) The Politics of Misrecognition. Ashgate.

Meer, N. (2011) ‘W.E.B. Du Bois and the Politics of Misrecognition’, in: Thompson, S. and Yar, M. (eds.) The Politics of Misrecognition Ashgate.

Meer, N. and Modood, T. (2011) ‘Diversity, Identity, and Multiculturalism in the Media’, in: Cheney,G., May, S. and Munshi, D. (eds.) Handbook of Communication Ethics Routledge

Meer, N. and Modood, T. (2010) ‘Islamophobia as cultural racism? Martin Amis and the racialization of Muslims’, in: Sayyid, S. and Vali, A.K. (eds.) Thinking Through Islamophobia Hurst & Co

Meer, N. and Modood, T. (2010) 'Refutations of Racism', in: Malik, M. (ed.) Anti-Muslim Prejudice Past and Present London: Routledge

Meer, N. and Modood, T. (2010) ‘Contemporary developments in cases of Muslim-state engagement’, in: Tryandifillidou,A. (ed.) Muslims in 21st Century Europe: Structural and Cultural Perspectives Routledge

Meer, N., Sala Pala, V., Modood, T., and Simon, P. (2009) ‘Religion, Culture, Identity, and Education in Western Europe’, in: J. Banks (ed.) The Routledge International Companion to Multicultural Education New York: Routledge 

Teaching

Nasar teaches on the following modules:

• Key Readings in Sociology
• Culture, Power and Identity
• Contemporary Social Theory
• Race and Ethnicity in a Global Context

Esteem Indicators

• Co-editor (with Dr. Varun Uberoi and Prof. Tariq Modood) of a Palgrave Book Series on the theme of the Politics of Identity and Citizenship.