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Dr. Fatima Rajina is a Senior Legacy in Action Research Fellow at the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre at ²ÝÁñÊÓƵ. She is trained as a sociologist and social anthropologist. After completing her MA in Islamic Societies and Cultures at SOAS, she went on to do a PhD after successfully securing a Nohoudh Scholarship with the Centre of Islamic Studies, SOAS, University of London. Completing her PhD at SOAS, Fatima's work looks at British Bangladeshi Muslims and their changing identifications and perceptions of dress and language. She specialises on the Bangladeshi community in the UK, with a focus on Tower Hamlets, Luton and Birmingham. Her book, British Bangladesh Muslims in the East End: The Changing Landscape of Dress and Language, will be published this summer (2024) with Manchester University Press.

Book

Rajina, F. (2024). British Bangladesh Muslims in the East End: The Changing Landscape of Dress and Language. Manchester University Press. 

Book Chapters

Rajina, F. (2024) ‘British Muslim men, stigma and clothing choices’ in The Palgrave Handbook of Gendered Islamophobia. Easat-Daas, A., & Zempi, I. (Eds.). 

Rajina, F. (2020) ‘They needed us, and now they are terrified we are here’ in I Refuse to Condemn: Resisting Racism in Times of National Security. Manchester University Press.

Journal Articles

Rajina, Fatima. (2024). "‘You Mean the Transition from bhai to akhi?’: How Bengali and Arabic Intersect in the Lives of British Bangladeshi Muslims in the East End of London". Journal of Muslims in Europe.

Rajina, Fatima. (2023). "British Muslim men and clothes: the role of stigma and the political (re)configurations around sartorial choices." Identities.

Dickson, Eve., Redclift, Victoria., and Rajina, Fatima. (2023). "Attacking transnationalism and citizenship: British Bangladeshis, family migration, and the postcolonial state." Critical Social Policy.

Redclift, Victoria., Rajina, Fatima., and Rashid, Naaz. (2022). "The Burden of Conviviality: British Bangladeshi Muslims navigating diversity in London, Luton and Birmingham." Sociology. Shortlisted for the 2023 Sage Prize for Innovation/Excellence.

El Shayyal, Khadijah and Rajina, Fatima. (2021). "United Kingdom". In: Müssig, S., Račius, E., Akgönül, S., Alibašić, A., Nielsen, J. S., and Scharbrodt, O. (eds) (18 Nov. 2021). Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Volume 13, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

Redclift, Victoria and Rajina, Fatima. (2019). "The hostile environment, Brexit, and ‘reactive‐’ or ‘protective transnationalism’." Global Networks.

Redclift, Victoria and Rajina, Fatima. (2017). "Rethinking Muslim migration: frameworks, flux and fragmentation." Ethnic and Racial Studies.

Rajina, Fatima. (2016). "Dress and Language: A Critical Analysis of the Concept and the Process of Identity Construction within the British Bangladeshi Muslim Community in East London". In Yasir Suleiman, C. B. E., and Paul Anderson. Muslims in the UK and Europe II, pp. 188-199.

Rajina, Fatima. (2016). "Islam in Argentina: Deconstructing the Biases." Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs.

Podcasts

New Books Network Podcast. Miranda Melcher in conversation with Fatima Rajina about her book, British Bangladeshi Muslims in the East End: The changing landscape of dress and language. (November 2024).

Link: https://newbooksnetwork.com/british-bangladeshi-muslims-in-the-east-end

Sociology Podcast Series. Ranjana Das speaks to the authors of Sociology journal paper "The Burden of Conviviality: British Bangladeshi Muslims Navigating Diversity in London, Luton and Birmingham", Victoria Redclift, Fatima Rajina, and Naaz Rashid. (November 2023).

Link: https://audiomack.com/sociologyjnl/song/the-burden-of-conviviality-british-bangladeshi-muslims-navigating-diversity

Radio

The Book Show on Inspire FM to discuss my book with host, Imrana Mehmood. (October 2024).

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EhyFAXb84A

BBC Radio London discussion with Asad Ahmad about my book. (September 2024). Interview from 1:14:30

Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0h0hg7t?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Public lectures

Lecture with Asian American/Asian Research Institute, CUNY, New York. (October 2024).

Link: https://aaari.info/24-10-25rajina/

Other Publications

Rajina, F. (2024). Kemi Badenoch as Tory leader only promises more Islamophobia. The New Arab. Link: https://www.newarab.com/opinion/kemi-badenoch-tory-leader-only-promises-more-islamophobia

Rajina, F. (2024). 'No-go zones': It's election year and the anti-Muslim trope is back again. Middle East Eye. Link: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/war-gaza-uk-no-go-zone-election-year-islamophobia

Rajina, F. (2023). KSI and the P-word: how the YouTuber’s use of the slur slots into a long history of anti-Asian discrimination in the UK. The Conversation. Link: https://theconversation.com/ksi-and-the-p-word-how-the-youtubers-use-of-the-slur-slots-into-a-long-history-of-anti-asian-discrimination-in-the-uk-203299

Rajina, F. (2022). The Monstering of Shamima Begum. The New Arab. Link: https://www.newarab.com/opinion/monstering-shamima-begum

Rajina, F. (2022). Rishi Sunak might 'look like us', but he is loyal to his class. Middle East Eye. Link: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/uk-rishi-sunak-look-like-us-loyal-class

Rajina, F. (2022). Underclass in Purdah: Britain’s never-changing relationship with its Asian Muslims and the creation of the Asian Muslim. Discover Society. Link: https://discoversociety.org/2022/06/27/underclass-in-purdah-britains-never-changing-relationship-with-its-asian-muslims-and-the-creation-of-the-asian-muslim/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=underclass-in-purdah-britains-never-changing-relationship-with-its-asian-muslims-and-the-creation-of-the-asian-muslim

Rajina, F. (2022). How India's violent politics came to Leicester. New Lines Magazine. Link: https://newlinesmag.com/argument/how-indias-violent-politics-came-to-leicester/

Rajina, F. (2021). What Azeem Rafiq’s case shows about the changing face of anti-South Asian racism in the UK. inews. Link: https://inews.co.uk/opinion/what-azeem-rafiqs-case-shows-about-the-changing-face-of-anti-south-asian-racism-in-the-uk-1307903

Rajina, F. (2021). As the UK seeks to strip citizens of citizenship, are Muslims the target? TRT World. Link: https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/as-the-uk-seeks-to-strip-citizens-of-citizenship-are-muslims-the-target-52159

Rajina, F. (2021). The Girl in the Mirror: On Media Representations and Aesthetics of Shamima Begum. Ceasefire Magazine. Link: https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/girl-mirror-media-representations-shamima-begum/

Rajina, F. (2021). Shamima Begum: what the media's fixation on her 'western' clothing means for Muslim women. The Conversation. Link: https://theconversation.com/shamima-begum-what-the-medias-fixation-on-her-western-clothing-means-for-muslim-women-157281

Rajina, F. (2021). Shamima Begum and the conditionality of British citizenship. Al Jazeera. Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/3/19/shamima-begum-british-citizenship

Rajina, F (2021). Book Review of Amrit Wilson's Finding A Voice: Asian Women in Britain. Shared Cultural Heritage. Link: https://sharedculturalheritage.wordpress.com/2021/02/17/book-review-of-amrit-wilsons-finding-a-voice-asian-women-in-britain/comment-page-1/

Rajina, F. (2021). BBC vs Zara Mohammed: An exercise in Islamophobia. Middle East Eye. Link: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/bbc-interview-zara-mohammed-exercise-islamophobia

Rajina, F. (2020). Coronavirus: How the media scapegoats Muslim women. Middle East Eye. Link: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/coronavirus-how-media-scapegoats-muslim-women

Rajina, F. (2020). Shamima Begum: What does it mean to be British? Middle East Eye. Link: https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/uk-where-does-shamima-begum-belong

Fernandez, S. and Rajina, F. (2019). Wearing a hijab for a few hours will not eradicate Islamophobia, we need to confront white supremacy. Amaliah. Link: https://www.amaliah.com/post/55027/wearing-hijab-hours-will-not-eradicate-islamophobia-hijab-day

British Bangladeshis, British Muslims, Islamophobia, Race, Identity, Clothes, Language, Postcolonialism, Tower Hamlets, East London

 BA, PGCE, MA, MPhil, PhD

The Construction of Race and Identity: A Case Study of Bangladeshis and Somalis in Tower Hamlets

My current project looks at the ways in which race-making happens in the everyday between the two biggest Muslim communities in the borough of Tower Hamlets. 

British Association of South Asian Studies (BASAS) (September 2024). Kings College London, University of London, London. Presented a paper titled: British Bangladeshi Muslim men, stigma and the role of clothes.

Seeing Muslimness: Interdisciplinary Conference. (June 2024). University of Cambridge. Presented a paper titled: British Bangladeshi Muslim men, stigma and the role of clothes.

British Association of Islamic Studies (BRAIS) (May 2024). University of Leeds. Presented a paper titled: British Muslim men, stigma and the role of clothes.

Confronting European pasts in the present: theoretical reflections and methodological approaches to researching formations of ‘race’ and whiteness (November 2023). German Sociological Association (DGS), Technical University Berlin, Berlin. Co-presented a paper titled: The Burden of Conviviality: British Bangladeshi Muslims navigating diversity in the shadow of Empire.

51st Annual Conference on South Asia (ACSA), (October 18-21, 2023), University of Wisconsin-Madison. Organised, chaired and presented a paper on the panel titled: Bangladeshis in Motion: Gender, Place and Transnationalism.

British Association of Islamic Studies (BRAIS) (May 2023). Aga Khan University's Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, London. Attendee.

ReOrienting the Post-Western Critical Muslim Studies Conference (September 2022). University of Leeds. Chair of one of the panels.

British Muslim Studies at 50: Retrospect and Prospect (September 2022). Muslims in Britain Research Network. University of Cardiff. Co-presented a paper titled: Decolonising British Muslim Studies: Towards a Critique of Identity and Belonging

British Association of Islamic Studies (BRAIS) (June 2022). University of Edinburgh. Attendee.

Transnational and Diaspora Politics and Activism (August 2021). Northumbria University. Co-presented a paper titled: Remembering the Liberation War of 1971: Transnationalism and Racism

Gary Napier, A qualitative social and psychological exploration into race, masculinity and intimacy amongst British -born black men in heterosexual relationships, 2nd supervisor.

British Academy, Small Research Grant (2023-2025)

Jummah Aesthetics: British Muslim men and their sartorial choices. The project is co-delivered with Rehan Jamil, a social documentary photographer. This is a photographic exhibition consisting of 25 photographs of British Muslim men and what they wear to Friday prayers, known as Jummah in Arabic. The exhibition is on at Oxford House until the end of February 2025.

MEDIA COVERAGE:

Go bright or go Gucci? British Muslim men discuss what they wear to Friday prayers

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2024/dec/03/go-bright-or-go-gucci-british-muslim-men-discuss-what-they-wear-to-friday-prayers

Radio discussion on Inspire FM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCiQcyLBuLI

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6549-0034