Joel Busher: Anti-Muslim Protest

Talking Terror

Joel Busher is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR), Coventry University. His research examines, 1) the social ecology of political violence and anti-outsider politics, and 2) the implementation of counter-terrorism policy and its societal impacts. His work centres on the micro- and meso-level processes of collective action – the rituals that shape and comprise our everyday lives; the cognitive and moral orders that we make, break and patch together again; and the emotional rules and rhythms of our lives – and how these give rise to, exacerbate or mitigate divisive social relations. In his work on anti-minority mobilisations he addresses questions about how and why people become involved in anti-minority protest, and what sustains, energises or undermines such protests. His book, The Making of Anti-Muslim Protest: Grassroots Activism in the English Defence League (Routledge) was joint winner of the British Sociological Association’s Philip Abrams Memorial Prize, 2016. His other current research interests include: the processes of interactive escalation, non-escalation and de-escalation between movements, counter-movements and the state; the implementation of the Prevent duty in schools and colleges in England and Wales; and how Brexit is playing out in British ‘expat’ communities living in Spain. Some research that has influenced Joel's career Kathleen M. Blee (2012). Democracy inthe Making: How Activist Groups Form. Deborah B. Gould (2009). MovingPolitics: Emotion and ACT UP’s Fight Against AIDS. Roger Hewitt (2005). White Backlash and the Politics of Multiculturalism Some of Joel's key research What the Prevent duty means for schools and colleges in England: An analysis of educationalists’ experiences. With Tufyal Choudhury, Paul Thomas, P. and Gareth Harris (2017) The Making of Anti-Muslim Protest: Grassroots Activism in the English Defence League. (2016) Micro Moral Worlds of Contentious Politics: A Reconceptualization of Radical Groups and Their Intersections with One Another and the Mainstream. With John F. Morrison (In Press)