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HomeUpcoming Events and SeminarsMigrants’ Experience of (Post-Brexit) Hate Crime In England
Migrants’ Experience of (Post-Brexit) Hate Crime in England

Larry Saha Room (HA2175)

Dr Karen Lumsden & Dr Alex Black
(Loughborough University)

In the current context of austerity, anti-immigration sentiment in the UK has increased alongside the expansion of the European Union via the accession of new member states (Burnett, 2013). Hate crimes against migrant populations have further increased leading up to, and in the wake of, ‘Brexit’ – the referendum concerning UK membership in the European Union (Lyons, 2016). Recent work by the Institute of Race Relations (2010) demonstrates how the geography of racist hate crimes in the UK has changed in recent years moving from predominantly large urban areas (with long histories of racial tensions) into rural areas, towns and smaller cities. The scope of racist hate crime has also changed to include the targeting of asylum seekers, migrant workers, and foreign nationals. Therefore further research is required into victims’ experiences of hate crime, including post-Brexit.

This paper presents initial findings from a qualitative study of Polish migrants’ experiences of hate crime in Lincolnshire, England, post-Brexit. Lincolnshire is a particularly significant area as it recorded the highest leave vote in the 2016 Brexit referendum with over 75% of voters in the town of Boston voting to leave (BBC, 2016). Boston is also home to the highest concentration of EU migrants after London (Chakelian, 2016). The discussion engages with Perry’s (2001) conceptual framework on hate crime and the process of ‘doing difference’, in addition to recent debates in hate crime studies concerning the definition of hate crime, and the relevance of perceived vulnerability (Chakraborti and Garland, 2014; Garland, 2010).

Biographies:

Dr Karen Lumsden is Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University and has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Aberdeen. She leads the East Midlands Policing Academic Collaboration (EMPAC) Network on Victims, Witnesses and Public Protection, and is the Director of the Policing Research Group at Loughborough University. She is the author of Boy Racer Culture (Routledge, 2013), Reflexivity: Theory Method and Practice (Routledge, forthcoming) and co-editor of Reflexivity in Criminological Research (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). Current research focuses on victims’ experiences of hate crime, online abuse and ‘trolling’, and police responses to domestic violence. Karen has also published journal papers on police-academic collaborations (Policing & Society) and the evidence-based policing movement (Sociology). For further info and a list of publications visit: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/socialsciences/staff/lumsden-karen.html

Dr Alex Black is Research Associate in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University and has a PhD in Sociology from the University of York. She is a researcher for the East Midlands Policing Academic Collaboration (EMPAC) Network on Victims, Witnesses and Public Protection. Her current research focuses on victims’ experiences of hate crime, online abuse and ‘trolling’, and the police responses to domestic violence.

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Date & time

  • Thu 24 Nov 2016, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Location

Larry Saha Room (HA2175) Haydon Allen Building (22)

Speakers

  • Dr Karen Lumsden
  • Dr Alex Black

Event Series

Sociology Seminar series