Amani Hassani

Dr. Amani Hassani is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Department of Politics and History within the College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences at Brunel University London. She joined Brunel in 2022 to lead the research project "The Other's Right to the City: a comparative ethnography of Denmark's ghetto policy," which examines how racialisation, Islamophobia, and immigration policies shape urban politics.

Hassani holds a PhD in Social and Cultural Analysis (a combined doctorate in Sociology and Anthropology) from Concordia University, an MSc in Anthropology, and a BA in Anthropology, both from the University of Copenhagen.

As an urban ethnographer working at the intersection of sociology, anthropology, and human geography, Hassani's research explores the connection between racialisation and spatialisation, with a focus on Muslim populations in the Global North. Her work particularly examines:

• Racialisation processes in color-blind societies
• Muslim experiences with Islamophobia in urban contexts
• Spatial dimensions of Muslim life in Western cities
• Comparative analysis of Muslim experiences in Denmark and Canada
• Gendered dimensions of religious expression and discrimination

Hassani's recently published monograph "Navigating Colour-Blind Societies: A Comparative Ethnography of Muslim Urban Life in Copenhagen and Montreal" (2024) represents the culmination of her doctoral work and subsequent research. The book offers insights into the urban lives of young middle-class Muslims in Copenhagen and Montreal, examining racialisation as both a social process that is classed and gendered and a spatial process that is social and temporal. Her research demonstrates how Muslim communities navigate and contest racialised spaces in Western urban environments.

Hassani has received notable recognition for her work, including:

• Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship
• Sociological Review Fellowship (2020)

Prior to joining Brunel, Hassani taught at Goldsmiths, Concordia University, and Aarhus University, covering modules in urban studies, youth studies, sociological theory, racialisation, and ethnographic methods. Her research continues to inform understanding of how Muslims are racialised and how they navigate this process in social and urban life across different national contexts.