Palestine: A Sociological Issue

In the second of the Sociological Review Foundation’s Conversations series, we put a sociological lens on the most urgent issue of our times: Palestine. In an event held in collaboration with Sociologists in Solidarity with Palestinians (SISP), we will hear from academic, poet and activist Rafeef Ziadah; sociologist Ashjan Ajour; and Cairsti Russell, sociologist and co-director of the documentary Freedom to Run. The conversation will be chaired by Yasmin Gunaratnam, Professor in Social Justice at King’s College London.

Reflecting on the genocide in Gaza and settler occupation in Palestine, the speakers will explore the role of sociology in intervening, and how the tools of our craft might offer insight, as well as their limitations. They will interrogate the systems and technologies of oppression which aim to divide and silence those who speak out about genocide and the effect of these systems in terms of emotional injury and trauma.

With the escalation of the hostile environment within universities seen in the increased securitisation and now deportation of students, urgent questions arise around how to work towards decolonisation and demilitarisation of our campuses. These processes have exposed how we have lost our campuses, but how might we claim them back? With students at the forefront of protest and resistance, and facing brutal and punitive measures, and with academics victimised and harassed for speaking out against genocide, the speakers will reflect on the practices and strategies of solidarity and resistance we can enact and what decolonisation should look like on our campuses.

Palestine: A Sociological Issue takes place following the publication of a Special Section in The Sociological Review journal, issue 73.2. It features contributions from the late Michael Burawoy, Rafeef Ziadah, Aseel Baidoun and Cairsti Russell. It was overseen by editor Kirsteen Paton and guest editors Karis Campion and Gala Rexer.

About our speakers:

Cairsti Russell is a postdoctoral tutor and media sociologist at the University of Glasgow and a member of the Glasgow University Media Group (GUMG). Her research focuses on media power, journalism and audiences, with a particular interest in war and conflict reporting and Israel and Palestine. Along with colleagues in the GUMG she is writing a book on the media and the cost of living crisis, and co-editing a book on media and conflict memory. She is currently developing a new research project on digital rights in Palestine. Dr Russell is also a filmmaker and co-producer/co-director of Freedom to Run, a feature-length documentary exploring the restrictions of freedom of movement in Palestine through running and the Palestine Marathon.

Rafeef Ziadah is a Palestinian poet, performance artist and human rights activist, as well as Senior Lecturer in Politics and Public Policy at King’s College London. Her research spans political economy, gender, race, and the politics of transport infrastructures in the Arabian Peninsula.

Ashjan Ajour is Lecturer in Sociology at Birmingham City University. She completed her PhD in sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research and teaching are situated in sociology, gender studies, political subjectivity, incarceration, forced migration, decolonisation and global indigenous politics. Dr Ajour is author of Reclaiming Humanity in Palestinian Hunger Strikes: Revolutionary Subjectivity and Decolonizing the Body (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), which won the Palestine Book Award in 2022. In 2025 she was awarded the Emma Goldman Award for Research Excellence for her contributions to feminist scholarship.

Yasmin Gunaratnam is Professor in Social Justice in the School of Education, Communication and Society, King's College London. Her publications include Researching Race and Ethnicity: methods, knowledge and power (2003, Sage), Death and the Migrant (2013, Bloomsbury Academic) and the co-authored book Go Home? The Politics of Immigration Controversies (2017, Manchester University Press). She also teaches yoga and mindfulness. Read her new paper in The Sociological Review journal, “Explosive legacies: Gaza and colonial aphasia”.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact Danielle Galway events@thesociologicalreview.com

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