Structural Islamophobia Research Lab (SIRL)

Importance of SIRL

Much of the public framing of Islamophobia tends to examine public discourses that are often part of the larger cultural milieu. However, this approach often ignores the way in which Islamophobia is systemically enabled by the very institutions that govern Canada, that educate Canadians, and that make possible our individual market participation. Structural Islamophobia is a difficult research subject because the evidence is often hidden whether for reasons of privacy, intellectual property, or national security. But that does not mean structural Islamophobia does not exist. SIRL exists to sponsor scholarship examining the formation and operation of Islamophobia in the form of institutional policy or bureaucratic practice, and explore them using creative research methodologies.

Objective

To sustain a research lab on structural Islamophobia in Canada that will support scholars, and foster creative methodologies strategies to examine systemic Islamophobia across the Canadian institutional landscape.. The lab will publish its findings through academic venues and public-access platforms to enable a more informed Canadian citizenry.

Status

The IIS secured a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant to support new scholars to undertake innovative research on structural Islamophobia. Building off the publication “Systemic Islamophobia in Canada: A Research Agenda"(2023), SIRL has Post-Docs examining sites of structural Islamophobia. One of those sites currently being explored is children welfare services in Ontario.

Contact

islamicstudies@utoronto.ca