CoDE - Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity

16/06/2025

REPORT: The impact of racial discrimination on mental health

This new report finds a ‘dose-response relationship’ between racial discrimination and poor mental health (ie the negative impact on mental health increased with increasing number of times and areas in which racism was experienced).

Lead author Patricia Irizar said:
"Racial discrimination has a direct impact on mental health, with the likelihood of poor mental health increasing with increasing exposure to racial discrimination, which is concerning given that 70% of ethnic minority people have experienced racism at least once during their life. Racial discrimination also contributes to worse health, financial, and social outcomes, which themselves also have a negative impact on mental health."

The authors also examine the impact of experiencing racism over many years. Recent experiences of racial discrimination (within the past 5 years only) had a stronger effect on mental health compared to experiences of racial discrimination that happened over five years ago. Chronic experiences of racial discrimination over someone’s life (both past and recent experiences) had the strongest effect on mental health.

Co-author Dharmi Kapadia said:
“Racially minoritised people in Britain continue to experience worryingly high levels of racial discrimination, with detrimental effects to their mental health. Further, this study shows the importance of collecting experiences of racial discrimination over the life course, rather than at just one point in time, as the more racism a person experiences, the worse the effect on their mental health. We now have overwhelming evidence both in Britain and globally of the insidious effects of racism, showing that direct action to tackle racism is urgently needed."

The report is written by Patricia Irizar, Dharmi Kapadia, Harry Taylor, Gertrude Wafula, Albert Kwansa, Charles Kwaku-Odoi, Laia Bécares and Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi.

The University of Manchester School of Social Sciences

https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/new-report-shows-relationship-between-racism-and-poor-mental-health/

21/05/2025

📌REPORT

Counting on Everyone: Profiling the Christian population in England

See link in bio to our NEWS page to download the report.

We were commissioned by the Church of England to produce a demographic profile of the Christian population in England from the 2021 census. The Counting on Everyone report uses 2021 census data to profile the demographic changes in the population in England, with a special focus on religion and ethnicity.

Key findings:

* There was a significant fall in the Christian population, from 37.3 million (72%) in 2001 to 26.2 million (46%) in 2021.

* At the same time the number of Muslims (1.5 million to 3.8 million), Hindus (0.5 million to 1 million) and those with no religion (7.2 million to 20.7 million) has more than doubled.

* There has been a significant drop in the percentage of White British, White Irish and mixed ethnicity groups (e.g. in 2001 82% of White British respondents identified as Christian compared with 49% in 2021). Most other ethnic categories saw a more gradual decline.

* Across most ethnic categories, younger people are less likely to say they are Christian.

* Looking at migration history, some ethnic categories (White British, White other, Indian, Asian other and black African and Caribbean, recent arrivals are more likely to be Christian than those born in the UK)

* Migration has contributed to the growth in the Christian population recently with 1.2 million Christians migrating to the UK between 2001 and 2011 and 1.9 million between 2011 and 2021 compared to only 0.4 million between 1991 and 2001. The majority of Christian migrants between 2011 and 2021 came from Europe.

The report is written by Nigel de Noronha

The University of Manchester School of Social Sciences

https://www.manchester.ac.uk/about/news/counting-on-everyone-profiling-the-christian-population-in-england/

09/05/2025

Please join us for our guest seminar:

📌Bartered Bridegrooms: Transacting Muslim masculinities as colonial legacy

🗣 Dr. Suriyah Bi - Cardiff University

📆 4.30-6pm, Monday 19 May (hybrid)

☕If joining in person, please arrive at 4.15pm for tea, coffee and cake!

HOW TO JOIN See events listing below for full room and zoom details.

ABSTRACT Muslim men are often portrayed in academic and popular discourses as violent patriarchs and/or as terrorists. Against the backdrop of an increasingly hostile environment within the United Kingdom, Suriyah Bi explores the experiences of Muslim migrant husbands in the Pakistani and Kashmiri diaspora. The uncertainties of migrant journeys tethered to cultural and religious marital norms intersect with gendered experiences of masculinity across space and time. In-depth interviews with 62 migrant husbands shed light on the precarity and vulnerability they experience. Their aspirational masculinities often start in the home country with collective familial dreams of migration, but can turn sour through the exposure of domestic and employment power dynamics upon arriving in the United Kingdom. The ethnography highlights experiences of domestic violence experienced by migrant husbands, which supports the notion of an in-between or liminal masculinity becoming a lived reality for these men on the move, ultimately resulting in novel ways in which a reassertion of masculinity is sought through religious Sufi traditions and musical lamentations. The book weaves together transnational dynamics between people and place along the contours of colonial legacies, showing the self and other power dynamics present within a single group identity. Violence is inflicted on incoming migrants by British-born or British citizen counterparts, through the immigration system. The book shows how citizenship can be weaponised as a performance of whiteness, namely White power, resulting in the notion that gender is performed on.

HOW TO JOIN
See event listing page below for full details including zoom link, maps and accessibility info. If there are any changes we will post them on the event listing so please do check before you travel.

Room: Hanson Room, Humanities Bridgeford Street Building, University of Manchester. There will be tea, coffee and cake from 4.15pm and the seminar will start at 4.30pm.
The University of Manchester School of Social Sciences
https://events.manchester.ac.uk/event/event:f3e-maffjvfs-mbsjx8

31/03/2025

EVENT: Against Definitions - Alana Lentin (Western Sydney University)
📆 1.30-3pm, Tues 22 April 2025 (Manchester/online)
🎫Register on Eventbrite (link below)

Alana Lentin on why defining antisemitism will not bring us closer to anti-racism.

Speaker
Alana Lentin is Professor of Cultural and Social Analysis at Western Sydney University and a member of its Institute for Culture and Society.

About the event
If you are attending in person, please join us from 1.15pm for tea, coffee and pastries.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/against-definitions-tickets-1292465281449?aff=oddtdtcreator

17/03/2025

Our next seminar is on Thursday - still time to register:

📌Exploring carceral intersections of race, class & disability
🗣 Margarita Aragon (Birkbeck)
📆12pm Thurs 20 March 2025 (Manchester/online)

In this seminar, Dr Margarita Aragon will explore the incarceration of those perceived to be intellectually disabled in the early 20th century as an important practice in the making of race and class in Britain. This context helps illuminate the inextricable imbrication of racism and ableism that has fundamentally shaped disciplinary institutions in the UK and beyond. I will ask how the surveillance and confinement of disabled people facilitated through the 1913 Mental Deficiency Act has shaped today’s racialized carceral landscapes.

All welcome - register for a free ticket to attend in person or online.

Margarita Aragon on processes of race- & class-making in the incarceration of people perceived as mentally deficient in early 20thC Britain.

06/03/2025

📌How anti-semitism became a battleground

🗣 Rachel Shabi in conversation with Gary Younge

📆6.30pm Tues 25 March 2025

As claims of antisemitism continue to distort our politics at home and abroad, it has become almost impossible to talk about constructively, even in private. Instead, we find ourselves in a storm of misinformation, political mudslinging and bad-faith accusations.

Rachel Shabi’s book, 'Off White' offers an urgent analysis of one of the most divisive issues of our time. In this conversation they discuss how our the current debate around anti-semitism does a disservice both to the Jewish communities and the left and how to chart a path towards more hopeful and inclusive solidarities with other minorities and progressives.

The University of Manchester School of Social Sciences

Rachel Shabi in conversation with Gary Younge.

26/02/2025

📌Building Resistance: empowerment, unity and representation in a time of crisis
📆 5-9pm, Thurs 6 March 2025
🗺 Hyson Green Youth Club, Nottingham

🎫 Register on Eventbrite for a free ticket (see Events link in bio)

A community conversation about racism and the state of Nottingham. Free event with pre-assembly food and performance.

Introduced by and

All welcome - please share with family and friends. See Events link in bio to register.

Funded by The Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and in collaboration with
Resolve Notts CoDE - Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity

The University of Manchester School of Social Sciences

25/02/2025

The next seminar from Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) is:

📌Exploring carceral intersections of race, class & disability
🗣 Margarita Aragon (Birkbeck)
📆12pm Thurs 20 March 2025 (Manchester/online)

In this seminar, Dr Margarita Aragon will explore the incarceration of those perceived to be intellectually disabled in the early 20th century as an important practice in the making of race and class in Britain. This context helps illuminate the inextricable imbrication of racism and ableism that has fundamentally shaped disciplinary institutions in the UK and beyond. I will ask how the surveillance and confinement of disabled people facilitated through the 1913 Mental Deficiency Act has shaped today’s racialized carceral landscapes.

All welcome - register for a free ticket to attend in person or online.

The University of Manchester School of Social Sciences

Margarita Aragon on processes of race- & class-making in the incarceration of people perceived as mentally deficient in early 20thC Britain.

18/02/2025

Join us for our next seminar this Thursday:

'Free yourself: research, politics and doing (your) right thing'
🗣Dr Yunis Alam (University of Bradford)

📆1-2.30pm Thursday 20 February 2025
📌University of Manchester/Online

This talk will explore a range of themes linked with insider research, ethnography and the extent to which research can be a political venture. Yunis Alam will also be speaking about owning and being committed to research, which may be especially relevant to those undertaking postgraduate study in which marginality is a key feature. Within the broader sweep of this talk, he will make reference to the academy’s current interest in ‘decoloniality’, inclusion and diversity more generally. The talk may be of particular interest to those who may find value in challenging norms and expectations in order to disrupt the dominant academic culture.

The University of Manchester School of Social Sciences

Yunis Alam shares his research on insider research, ethnography and the extent to which research can be a political venture.

10/02/2025

Join us for our next seminar:

'Free yourself: research, politics and doing (your) right thing'
🗣Dr Yunis Alam (University of Bradford)

📆1-2.30pm Thursday 20 February 2025
📌University of Manchester/Online

This talk will explore a range of themes linked with insider research, ethnography and the extent to which research can be a political venture. Yunis Alam will also be speaking about owning and being committed to research, which may be especially relevant to those undertaking postgraduate study in which marginality is a key feature. Within the broader sweep of this talk, he will make reference to the academy’s current interest in ‘decoloniality’, inclusion and diversity more generally. The talk may be of particular interest to those who may find value in challenging norms and expectations in order to disrupt the dominant academic culture.

The University of Manchester School of Social Sciences

Yunis Alam shares his research on insider research, ethnography and the extent to which research can be a political venture.

06/12/2024

Congratulations to Claire Alexander, winner of this year's Distinguished Service to British Sociology award 🎉

We are delighted to announce Professor Claire Alexander (University of Manchester) is this year’s winner of the Distinguished Service to British Sociology Award. This prestigious award is judged on service...