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Aisha Phoenix

Dr Aisha Phoenix

Lecturer in Social Justice

  • UKRI Future Leaders Fellow

Research interests

  • Education
  • Diversity
  • Equality
  • Sociology

Biography

Aisha’s primary research area is colourism, skin shade prejudice in which people of colour with light skin are privileged over those with darker skin shades. She was the principal investigator on a qualitative skin shade study that explored colourism among people of colour in the UK and she is a co-investigator on related quantitative projects.

She has also conducted research on: Muslim young people in schools and higher education institutions; perceptions of Islam; anti-Muslim racism and racism generally. Her PhD research focused on how Palestinian university students living in the West Bank narrated their lives under occupation to a foreign audience. In her work, she critically engages with issues of belonging and marginalisation and social justice. She is particularly interested in narrative approaches to understanding social issues.

Aisha has been named a UKRI Future Leader Fellow in June 2022. In her project she will conduct a large-scale study of young people's perceptions and experiences of colourism in the UK.

Previously, Aisha was the Post-Doctoral Researcher on the AHRC-funded ‘Re/presenting Islam on Campus Project’ at SOAS, University of London. The research, which was conducted at six UK higher education institutions, was published by Oxford University Press as the co-authored Islam on Campus: Contested Identities and the Cultures of Higher Education monograph.

Aisha has an ESRC-funded PhD in Sociology from Goldsmiths, University of London, Masters in Social Research (Goldsmiths) and Social Anthropology of Development (SOAS), a Postgraduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism (City University) and a BA in Arabic and Modern Middle Eastern Studies (University of Oxford). Before returning to academia, Aisha worked as a media and advertising reporter at Bloomberg News in London.

Research interests

  • Colourism
  • Belonging
  • Anti-Muslim racism
  • Racialisation
  • Racism
  • Social justice

Latest publications

2022 Craddock et al. ‘Understanding colourism in the UK: development and assessment of the everyday colourism scale.’ Ethnic and Racial Studies. Online first.

2022 ‘Black Men’s Experiences of Colourism in the UK’. Co-authored with Nadia Craddock, Sociology, 56(5): 1015-1031.

2020 Scott-Baumann A et al. Islam on Campus: Contested Identities and the Cultures of Higher Education. Co-authored monograph. Oxford University Press.

2018 ‘Negotiating British Muslim Belonging: A Qualitative Longitudinal Study’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 42:10, 1632-1650.

2018 ‘From Text to Screen: Erasing Racialized Difference in the Handmaid’s Tale’, Communication, Culture & Critique, 11, 1: 206-208.

2014 ‘Colourism and the Politics of Beauty’, Feminist Review, 108: 97-105.

2012 ‘Racialisation, relationality and riots: intersections and interpellations’, Feminist Review, 100: 52-71. Co-authored with Ann Phoenix.

2011 ‘Somali Young Women and Hierarchies of Belonging’, YOUNG: Nordic Journal of Youth Research, 19, 3: 313-331.

2008 ‘Broadcasters are out of tune with Britain’, Television Magazine, Vol. 45, 5, Royal Television Society.

Research

women at wokr
Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR)

The Centre for Public Policy Research is an interdisciplinary research centre research developing critical analyses of social change and social in/justice in education and other policy arenas, sectors and contexts to inform national and international policy debate, social activism, and personal, professional and organisational learning.

Family of Black Americans
Understanding colourism among young people in the UK

This research explores how colourism, skin shade prejudice, is understood, negotiated and/or perpetuated by young people in the UK.

Project status: Ongoing

News

The impact of colourism on people and societies around the world

A new podcast episode looks at how colourism affects people and their life chances, and how research is helping to fill the gaps in our knowledge around this...

Composite image of faces to illustrate colourism

Black and Asian people with darker skin suffer prejudice from relatives

Black and Asian people with darker skin shades can be the subject of prejudice and insults from members of their families, new King's research shows.

Family of Black Americans

Next generation of research leaders receive UKRI fellowships

Six world-class researchers from King’s have been awarded Future Leaders Fellowships by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

King's UKRI Future Leader Fellowship recipients 2022

Events

29MarNeoliberal Religion Event image

Neoliberal Religion: Faith and Power in the Twenty-First Century

Book launch and Roundtable discussion with Professor Mathew Guest.

Please note: this event has passed.

22NovAisha - CMS

Festival of Disruptive Thinking: Colourism in the UK

What is colourism and how does it affect people of colour in the UK? Join Dr Aisha Phoenix to explore the origins of skin shade prejudice, its complexities...

Please note: this event has passed.

Features

Must-reads in education, communication and social sciences

The School of Education, Communication & Society at King’s College London houses research from a range of different fields – from linguistics to education...

Books side by side-tom-hermans-1903x558

Exploring and understanding colourism, Black experiences and anti-racism

For Black History Month, researchers at the School of Education, Communication & Society reflected on their anti-racist work and how their values motivate...

ECS BHM video 1903x558

Meet Dr Aisha Phoenix, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow in Social Justice

In this Q&A, Dr Aisha Phoenix talks about her path to academia and her strong interest in researching colourism in the UK, contributing to greater...

Celebration-audience-1920x1280

Research

women at wokr
Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR)

The Centre for Public Policy Research is an interdisciplinary research centre research developing critical analyses of social change and social in/justice in education and other policy arenas, sectors and contexts to inform national and international policy debate, social activism, and personal, professional and organisational learning.

Family of Black Americans
Understanding colourism among young people in the UK

This research explores how colourism, skin shade prejudice, is understood, negotiated and/or perpetuated by young people in the UK.

Project status: Ongoing

News

The impact of colourism on people and societies around the world

A new podcast episode looks at how colourism affects people and their life chances, and how research is helping to fill the gaps in our knowledge around this...

Composite image of faces to illustrate colourism

Black and Asian people with darker skin suffer prejudice from relatives

Black and Asian people with darker skin shades can be the subject of prejudice and insults from members of their families, new King's research shows.

Family of Black Americans

Next generation of research leaders receive UKRI fellowships

Six world-class researchers from King’s have been awarded Future Leaders Fellowships by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

King's UKRI Future Leader Fellowship recipients 2022

Events

29MarNeoliberal Religion Event image

Neoliberal Religion: Faith and Power in the Twenty-First Century

Book launch and Roundtable discussion with Professor Mathew Guest.

Please note: this event has passed.

22NovAisha - CMS

Festival of Disruptive Thinking: Colourism in the UK

What is colourism and how does it affect people of colour in the UK? Join Dr Aisha Phoenix to explore the origins of skin shade prejudice, its complexities...

Please note: this event has passed.

Features

Must-reads in education, communication and social sciences

The School of Education, Communication & Society at King’s College London houses research from a range of different fields – from linguistics to education...

Books side by side-tom-hermans-1903x558

Exploring and understanding colourism, Black experiences and anti-racism

For Black History Month, researchers at the School of Education, Communication & Society reflected on their anti-racist work and how their values motivate...

ECS BHM video 1903x558

Meet Dr Aisha Phoenix, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow in Social Justice

In this Q&A, Dr Aisha Phoenix talks about her path to academia and her strong interest in researching colourism in the UK, contributing to greater...

Celebration-audience-1920x1280