Chris Allen (born 1966) is a British sociologist and associate professor at the Centre for Hate Studies based in the Department of Criminology at the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

. He was named by the ''

Deutsche Welle Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...

'' as an expert on the topic of contemporary

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

Early life

Chris Allen was born in Bermondsey, London.Chris Allen
Huffington Post UK, retrieved 23 April 2023. He received a B.A. in religious studies from University of Wolverhampton in 2001, and a Ph.D. in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

from the University of Birmingham in 2006.Chris Allen – University of Leicester
LinkedIn, retrieved 23 April 2023.

Career

Allen worked for a year as a Research and Policy Assistant at the Markfield Institute of Higher Education associated with

The Islamic Foundation The Islamic Foundation ( ur, ) is an institution based in Markfield, Leicestershire, established by Khurshid Ahmad and Khurram Murad Khurram Murad (3 November 1932 – 19 December 1996) was a Pakistani scholar of Islam. Career From 1975 ...

. He was a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton for 3 years, Director of Research and Policy at the N.G.O called Brap in Birmingham for 3 years, and University Lecturer at the University of Birmingham between 2009 and 2018. Since 2018, he has been an Associate Professor in the Centre for Hate Studies based in the Department of Criminology, University of Leicester. Allen's research focuses on

, British and European

Far Right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

and, more broadly, religiously motivated hate.The Centre for Hate Studies – Expertise
University of Leicester, retrieved 23 April 2023.

Research into Islamophobia

Shortly after the events of 9/11 he was commissioned by the

European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, usually known in English as the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), is a Vienna-based agency of the European Union inaugurated on 1 March 2007. It was established by Council Regulation (EC) No 168/20 ...

to co-author its "Summary report on Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001" with Jorgen S. Nielsen. Published in May 2002, the report concluded that "a greater receptivity towards anti-Muslim and other xenophobic ideas and sentiments has, and may well continue, to become more tolerated". At the same time, Allen apparently acknowledged that "there were very few serious nti-Muslimattacks" and that Islamophobia "manifested itself in quite basic and low-level ways." However, Allen has stated that after the report was published there was a "concerted effort by some to dismiss this data because the number of 'high level' incidents - violent assaults, murder, firebombing of mosques etc - were (thankfully) low." He also stated that the focus in the number of Islamophobic incidents or severity of them minimizes the fact that the hate, prejudice, and discrimination that Muslims face negatively affect them and their lives. In 2012, he was asked to be on the board of "a cross-government working group to tackle anti-Muslim hatred". He later resigned from the group.

Works

* ''Islamophobia'' (Ashgate, 2010)

References

External links

Chris Allen's personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Chris Living people Academics of the University of Birmingham Islam in Europe 1966 births Scholars of Islamophobia