Irene Zempi
Biographic Data
| ID | 84152 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Irene Zempi |
| GIVEN NAMES | Irene |
| FAMILY NAME | Zempi |
| SIGNATURE | ZEMPI I |
| AFFILIATIONS | Nottingham Trent University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1719-8573 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 125 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Community Conversations as a Strategy to Prevent Hate Crime: Facilitators’ Reflections
Hate crimes damage social cohesion and undermine the security of societies. Persistent high levels of hate crime demand new and effective pathways for change. The aim of this article is to consider the value of ‘community conversations’ for preventing hate crime at the level of local communities, based on the perceptions and experiences of facilitators. Drawing on the evaluation of the ‘Citizens at the Heart’ project, this article discusses commu…
Muslims are Leaving Football, They Think 'What is the Point: A Qualitative Study on Islamophobia in Grassroots Football in England and Wales
This article explores Muslim players' experiences of Islamophobia at grassroots football. It employs critical race theory (CRT) as a theoretical framework to interpret Islamophobia as a form of anti-Muslim racism in football. The article considers the complexities of intersectionality in terms of race, religion, gender, and the 'space' where Islamophobia is manifested, both online and offline. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 40 British…
‘Looking back, i wouldn’t join up again’: The lived experiences of police officers as victims of bias and prejudice perpetrated by fellow staff within an english police force
Women, ethnic minority and LGB police officers often experience prejudice, disadvantage and exclusion within police forces because of their perceived ‘otherness’ in a predominantly white, heterosexual, male organisation. In the context of an increasingly diverse service, the paper argues that the concept of intersectionality is important in order to understand the experiences of police officers who encounter bias and prejudice because of their mu…
Embracing the emotional turn: Responding to researchers’ emotions
This article examines the role of researchers’ emotions when researching sensitive topics. Drawing on two different ethnographic research projects, experiences of imprisonment and hate crime victimisation, respectively, we reflect on the important role that our emotions occupied within the research context. Within the framework of sociology of emotions, we discuss our subjective experiences of qualitative research with prisoners and victims of ha…
Islamophobic Hate Crime: A Student Textbook
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in anti-Muslim attacks. What is driving the proliferation of these hate crimes? Why are Muslims being demonised? Building on current research and drawing upon real-life examples and case studies, this book provides an accessible introduction to Islamophobia and Islamophobic hate crimes along with the various responses to this form of victimisation. Chapters cover a range of topics including: • Defi…
The Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia
Islamophobic hate crimes have increased significantly following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and 7/7. More recently, the rhetoric surrounding Trump's election and presidency, Brexit, the rise of far-right groups and ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks worldwide have promoted a climate where Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiments have become 'legitimised'. The Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia provides a comprehensive single-volume co…
Veiled Muslim women’s responses to experiences of gendered Islamophobia in the UK
In a post-9/11 climate, Islamophobia has increased significantly in the UK and elsewhere in the West. ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks in the UK as well as in France, Belgium, Germany and, more recently, in Sri Lanka have triggered an increase in verbal and physical attacks on Muslims. Drawing on intersectionality (as a nexus of identities that work together to render certain individuals as ‘ideal’ targets to attack), veiled Muslim women are likel…
Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia
Veiled Muslim women's views on law banning the wearing of the niqab (face veil) in public
In August 2018, Denmark became the latest European country to ban the wearing of the niqab (face veil) in public. Indeed, several European countries such as France, Belgium and Austria have already imposed a national ban on the wearing of the niqab in public on the grounds that it is a 'threat' to gender equality, integration and national security. While the wearing of the niqab has elicited a good deal of media, political and public debates, lit…
Misogyny, Racism, and Islamophobia: Street Harassment at the Intersections
Veiled Muslim women are at an increased risk of street harassment in the current political and economic climate. Their visibility, combined with their popular portrayal as culturally dangerous or threatening means that they are vulnerable to receiving verbal and physical threats, which can be misogynistic and Islamophobic in nature. Drawing on 60 individual and 20 focus group interviews with Muslim women in the United Kingdom who wear the niqab (…
Reply to reviewers for ‘Doing “Dangerous” Autoethnography on Islamophobic Victimization
Researching victimisation using auto-ethnography: Wearing the Muslim veil in public
This article reflects upon my personal experiences of undertaking auto-ethnography on victimisation through wearing the Muslim veil in public. Wearing the veil was suggested by some of my respondents as a way to get insider knowledge of their own day-to-day experiences of victimisation. Here, I explore the emotional, psychological and physical impacts of being targeted because of my (perceived/adopted) Muslim identity. I discuss the advantages an…
Doing 'dangerous' autoethnography on Islamophobic victimization
This article draws on our different experiences of employing autoethnography when researching Islamophobia, using two independent research projects. In particular, we reflect upon our experiences of Islamophobic victimization as a result of being 'visibly' Muslim in public spaces in the UK. We discuss our motivation for employing autoethnography and the role of our insider/outsider status in adopting the role of the Muslim 'other' in public space…
Islamophobia: Lived Experiences of Online and Offline Victimisation
This book examines British Islamophobia both in the cyber and physical world. Drawing from qualitative data elicited through a national UK-based study, this text considers the online and offline experiences of ‘visible’ Muslim men and women as victims of Islamophobia and the impacts of these attacks upon victims, their families and wider communities. Key themes that emerge from the research findings include ‘trigger’ events of local, national and…
Islamophobia: Lived Experiences of Online and Offline Victimisation
Islamophobia examines the online and offline experiences of hate crime against Muslims, and the impact upon victims, their families and wider communities. It includes the voices of victims themselves, which leads to strategies for future prevention
Negotiating Constructions of Insider and Outsider Status in Research with Veiled Muslim Women Victims of Islamophobic Hate Crime
This article presents a reflexive discussion of insider and outsider positions in a qualitative study researching Islamophobic hate crime with Muslim women who wear the niqab (face veil) in public in the United Kingdom (UK). As a non-Muslim woman, some aspects of my identity can be linked to insider positions while other aspects of my identity can be linked to outsider positions, with implications for the documentation of participants' lived expe…
It's a part of me, I feel naked without it: Choice, agency and identity for Muslim women who wear the niqab
In the context of heightened suspicion and anti-Muslim stereotypes in a post-9/11 and 7/7 era, Muslim women who wear the niqab (face veil) are stigmatised, criminalised and marked as 'dangerous' to British/Western values. Several countries have imposed bans on the wearing of face veils in public places based on the premise that the niqab is a 'threat' to notions of gender equality, integration and national security. While the wearing of the niqab…
I will Blow your face off’—Virtual and Physical World Anti-Muslim Hate Crime
Anti-Muslim hate crime is usually viewed in the prism of physical attacks; however, it also occurs in a cyber context, and this reality has considerable consequences for victims. In seeking to help improve our understanding of anti-Muslim hate crime, this article draws on the findings from a project that involved qualitative interviews with Muslim men and women who experienced both virtual and physical world anti-Muslim hate, and reported their e…
Islamophobia, Victimisation and the Veil
This book examines the experiences of veiled Muslim women as victims of Islamophobia, and the impact of this victimisation upon women, their families and wider Muslim communities. It proposes a more e
The veil under attack: Gendered dimensions of Islamophobic victimization
In the current climate, the veil is the key visual symbol of Islam. The veiled female body is central in the construction of discourses on the difference of the Muslim as ‘other’ with the non-Muslim ‘self’. The effect is that the multiple meanings of the veil are erased, and only one stands out: the veil as a symbol of gender inequality. This article explores the ways in which the visibility of the veil in the public gaze marks its wearers as par…
The veil under attack: Gendered dimensions of Islamophobic victimization
In the current climate, the veil is the key visual symbol of Islam. The veiled female body is central in the construction of discourses on the difference of the Muslim as ‘other’ with the non-Muslim ‘self’. The effect is that the multiple meanings of the veil are erased, and only one stands out: the veil as a symbol of gender inequality. This article explores the ways in which the visibility of the veil in the public gaze marks its wearers as par…
It's a part of me, I feel naked without it: Choice, agency and identity for Muslim women who wear the niqab
In the context of heightened suspicion and anti-Muslim stereotypes in a post-9/11 and 7/7 era, Muslim women who wear the niqab (face veil) are stigmatised, criminalised and marked as 'dangerous' to British/Western values. Several countries have imposed bans on the wearing of face veils in public places based on the premise that the niqab is a 'threat' to notions of gender equality, integration and national security. While the wearing of the niqab…
Veiled Muslim women’s responses to experiences of gendered Islamophobia in the UK
In a post-9/11 climate, Islamophobia has increased significantly in the UK and elsewhere in the West. ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks in the UK as well as in France, Belgium, Germany and, more recently, in Sri Lanka have triggered an increase in verbal and physical attacks on Muslims. Drawing on intersectionality (as a nexus of identities that work together to render certain individuals as ‘ideal’ targets to attack), veiled Muslim women are likel…
Misogyny, Racism, and Islamophobia: Street Harassment at the Intersections
Veiled Muslim women are at an increased risk of street harassment in the current political and economic climate. Their visibility, combined with their popular portrayal as culturally dangerous or threatening means that they are vulnerable to receiving verbal and physical threats, which can be misogynistic and Islamophobic in nature. Drawing on 60 individual and 20 focus group interviews with Muslim women in the United Kingdom who wear the niqab (…
Doing 'dangerous' autoethnography on Islamophobic victimization
This article draws on our different experiences of employing autoethnography when researching Islamophobia, using two independent research projects. In particular, we reflect upon our experiences of Islamophobic victimization as a result of being 'visibly' Muslim in public spaces in the UK. We discuss our motivation for employing autoethnography and the role of our insider/outsider status in adopting the role of the Muslim 'other' in public space…
Veiled Muslim women's views on law banning the wearing of the niqab (face veil) in public
In August 2018, Denmark became the latest European country to ban the wearing of the niqab (face veil) in public. Indeed, several European countries such as France, Belgium and Austria have already imposed a national ban on the wearing of the niqab in public on the grounds that it is a 'threat' to gender equality, integration and national security. While the wearing of the niqab has elicited a good deal of media, political and public debates, lit…
I will Blow your face off’—Virtual and Physical World Anti-Muslim Hate Crime
Anti-Muslim hate crime is usually viewed in the prism of physical attacks; however, it also occurs in a cyber context, and this reality has considerable consequences for victims. In seeking to help improve our understanding of anti-Muslim hate crime, this article draws on the findings from a project that involved qualitative interviews with Muslim men and women who experienced both virtual and physical world anti-Muslim hate, and reported their e…
Researching victimisation using auto-ethnography: Wearing the Muslim veil in public
This article reflects upon my personal experiences of undertaking auto-ethnography on victimisation through wearing the Muslim veil in public. Wearing the veil was suggested by some of my respondents as a way to get insider knowledge of their own day-to-day experiences of victimisation. Here, I explore the emotional, psychological and physical impacts of being targeted because of my (perceived/adopted) Muslim identity. I discuss the advantages an…
Negotiating Constructions of Insider and Outsider Status in Research with Veiled Muslim Women Victims of Islamophobic Hate Crime
This article presents a reflexive discussion of insider and outsider positions in a qualitative study researching Islamophobic hate crime with Muslim women who wear the niqab (face veil) in public in the United Kingdom (UK). As a non-Muslim woman, some aspects of my identity can be linked to insider positions while other aspects of my identity can be linked to outsider positions, with implications for the documentation of participants' lived expe…
The veil under attack: Gendered dimensions of Islamophobic victimization
In the current climate, the veil is the key visual symbol of Islam. The veiled female body is central in the construction of discourses on the difference of the Muslim as ‘other’ with the non-Muslim ‘self’. The effect is that the multiple meanings of the veil are erased, and only one stands out: the veil as a symbol of gender inequality. This article explores the ways in which the visibility of the veil in the public gaze marks its wearers as par…
Islamophobia, Victimisation and the Veil
This book examines the experiences of veiled Muslim women as victims of Islamophobia, and the impact of this victimisation upon women, their families and wider Muslim communities. It proposes a more e
I will Blow your face off’—Virtual and Physical World Anti-Muslim Hate Crime
Anti-Muslim hate crime is usually viewed in the prism of physical attacks; however, it also occurs in a cyber context, and this reality has considerable consequences for victims. In seeking to help improve our understanding of anti-Muslim hate crime, this article draws on the findings from a project that involved qualitative interviews with Muslim men and women who experienced both virtual and physical world anti-Muslim hate, and reported their e…
Islamophobia: Lived Experiences of Online and Offline Victimisation
This book examines British Islamophobia both in the cyber and physical world. Drawing from qualitative data elicited through a national UK-based study, this text considers the online and offline experiences of ‘visible’ Muslim men and women as victims of Islamophobia and the impacts of these attacks upon victims, their families and wider communities. Key themes that emerge from the research findings include ‘trigger’ events of local, national and…
Islamophobia: Lived Experiences of Online and Offline Victimisation
Islamophobia examines the online and offline experiences of hate crime against Muslims, and the impact upon victims, their families and wider communities. It includes the voices of victims themselves, which leads to strategies for future prevention
Negotiating Constructions of Insider and Outsider Status in Research with Veiled Muslim Women Victims of Islamophobic Hate Crime
This article presents a reflexive discussion of insider and outsider positions in a qualitative study researching Islamophobic hate crime with Muslim women who wear the niqab (face veil) in public in the United Kingdom (UK). As a non-Muslim woman, some aspects of my identity can be linked to insider positions while other aspects of my identity can be linked to outsider positions, with implications for the documentation of participants' lived expe…
It's a part of me, I feel naked without it: Choice, agency and identity for Muslim women who wear the niqab
In the context of heightened suspicion and anti-Muslim stereotypes in a post-9/11 and 7/7 era, Muslim women who wear the niqab (face veil) are stigmatised, criminalised and marked as 'dangerous' to British/Western values. Several countries have imposed bans on the wearing of face veils in public places based on the premise that the niqab is a 'threat' to notions of gender equality, integration and national security. While the wearing of the niqab…
Reply to reviewers for ‘Doing “Dangerous” Autoethnography on Islamophobic Victimization
Researching victimisation using auto-ethnography: Wearing the Muslim veil in public
This article reflects upon my personal experiences of undertaking auto-ethnography on victimisation through wearing the Muslim veil in public. Wearing the veil was suggested by some of my respondents as a way to get insider knowledge of their own day-to-day experiences of victimisation. Here, I explore the emotional, psychological and physical impacts of being targeted because of my (perceived/adopted) Muslim identity. I discuss the advantages an…
Doing 'dangerous' autoethnography on Islamophobic victimization
This article draws on our different experiences of employing autoethnography when researching Islamophobia, using two independent research projects. In particular, we reflect upon our experiences of Islamophobic victimization as a result of being 'visibly' Muslim in public spaces in the UK. We discuss our motivation for employing autoethnography and the role of our insider/outsider status in adopting the role of the Muslim 'other' in public space…
Misogyny, Racism, and Islamophobia: Street Harassment at the Intersections
Veiled Muslim women are at an increased risk of street harassment in the current political and economic climate. Their visibility, combined with their popular portrayal as culturally dangerous or threatening means that they are vulnerable to receiving verbal and physical threats, which can be misogynistic and Islamophobic in nature. Drawing on 60 individual and 20 focus group interviews with Muslim women in the United Kingdom who wear the niqab (…
Islamophobic Hate Crime: A Student Textbook
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in anti-Muslim attacks. What is driving the proliferation of these hate crimes? Why are Muslims being demonised? Building on current research and drawing upon real-life examples and case studies, this book provides an accessible introduction to Islamophobia and Islamophobic hate crimes along with the various responses to this form of victimisation. Chapters cover a range of topics including: • Defi…
The Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia
Islamophobic hate crimes have increased significantly following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and 7/7. More recently, the rhetoric surrounding Trump's election and presidency, Brexit, the rise of far-right groups and ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks worldwide have promoted a climate where Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiments have become 'legitimised'. The Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia provides a comprehensive single-volume co…
Veiled Muslim women’s responses to experiences of gendered Islamophobia in the UK
In a post-9/11 climate, Islamophobia has increased significantly in the UK and elsewhere in the West. ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks in the UK as well as in France, Belgium, Germany and, more recently, in Sri Lanka have triggered an increase in verbal and physical attacks on Muslims. Drawing on intersectionality (as a nexus of identities that work together to render certain individuals as ‘ideal’ targets to attack), veiled Muslim women are likel…
Routledge International Handbook of Islamophobia
Veiled Muslim women's views on law banning the wearing of the niqab (face veil) in public
In August 2018, Denmark became the latest European country to ban the wearing of the niqab (face veil) in public. Indeed, several European countries such as France, Belgium and Austria have already imposed a national ban on the wearing of the niqab in public on the grounds that it is a 'threat' to gender equality, integration and national security. While the wearing of the niqab has elicited a good deal of media, political and public debates, lit…
‘Looking back, i wouldn’t join up again’: The lived experiences of police officers as victims of bias and prejudice perpetrated by fellow staff within an english police force
Women, ethnic minority and LGB police officers often experience prejudice, disadvantage and exclusion within police forces because of their perceived ‘otherness’ in a predominantly white, heterosexual, male organisation. In the context of an increasingly diverse service, the paper argues that the concept of intersectionality is important in order to understand the experiences of police officers who encounter bias and prejudice because of their mu…
Embracing the emotional turn: Responding to researchers’ emotions
This article examines the role of researchers’ emotions when researching sensitive topics. Drawing on two different ethnographic research projects, experiences of imprisonment and hate crime victimisation, respectively, we reflect on the important role that our emotions occupied within the research context. Within the framework of sociology of emotions, we discuss our subjective experiences of qualitative research with prisoners and victims of ha…
Community Conversations as a Strategy to Prevent Hate Crime: Facilitators’ Reflections
Hate crimes damage social cohesion and undermine the security of societies. Persistent high levels of hate crime demand new and effective pathways for change. The aim of this article is to consider the value of ‘community conversations’ for preventing hate crime at the level of local communities, based on the perceptions and experiences of facilitators. Drawing on the evaluation of the ‘Citizens at the Heart’ project, this article discusses commu…
Muslims are Leaving Football, They Think 'What is the Point: A Qualitative Study on Islamophobia in Grassroots Football in England and Wales
This article explores Muslim players' experiences of Islamophobia at grassroots football. It employs critical race theory (CRT) as a theoretical framework to interpret Islamophobia as a form of anti-Muslim racism in football. The article considers the complexities of intersectionality in terms of race, religion, gender, and the 'space' where Islamophobia is manifested, both online and offline. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 40 British…
Sociology (18 works) · Political science (17 works) · Law (16 works) · Criminology (11 works) · Gender Studies (11 works) · Politics (11 works) · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence (11 works) · Gender Studies (9 works) · Islamophobia (9 works) · Law (9 works)