IAS Book Launch: 'Am I Less British?'

Providing a rich ethnography of the lives of the children, Doğuş Şimşek studies their sense of identity, belonging and their transnational experiences. It aims to understand how the children position themselves within a range of locations (London, North London and Turkey), where they face class hierarchy, racism and discrimination, and explores how they think about their sense of belonging within the contemporary political context in Britain and Turkey. De-identifying themselves from national identities and holding onto the oppressed identities appear as new forms of resistance in response to racism and exclusion.

The experiences of the young people reflect the complexity of their lives in changing political and social circumstances across the borders of nation-states, and the importance of other categories of identity, including local identities. Overall, the book argues that the intersections of local, national and transnational approaches, the political context through which the lives of young people are framed, and their sophisticated engagement with ideas of race, class, ethnicity and gender, are crucial in understanding their identity formation.

Şimşek will be in conversation Maxwell Mutanda, Lecturer in Environmental and Spatial Equity and Co-Director of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, and Rachel Rosen, Professor of Sociology at the Social Research Institute, UCl Institute of Education. The evening will be chaired by Estella Carpi, Assistant Professor in Humanitarian Studies, UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction.

'Am I Less British?' Racism, belonging, and the children of refugees and immigrants in North London was published by UCL Press in February 2024.

This event is generously supported by UCL FRINGE, UCL Press and the UCL Middle East Research Centre.