Stay Curious – How UL research is leading to a more inclusive society
Michelle McMahon speaks to Dr James Carr, Associate Professor in Sociology at University of Limerick
Dr James Carr, Associate Professor in Sociology at University of Limerick Pictures: Alan Place
Stay Curious – How UL research is leading to a more inclusive society
Michelle McMahon speaks to Dr James Carr, Associate Professor in Sociology at University of Limerick
Dr James Carr, Associate Professor in Sociology at University of Limerick
‘With my work, I know there is no ‘winning’. I know that we are up against it in many ways, but this is my society as well, and I am not going to allow someone within my society to take my understanding of Irishness and corrupt it to exclude people.
We are aspiring for something better than a society that excludes.’
A passion for inclusion and equality for all is the fire that fuels the work of Dr James Carr, Associate Professor in Sociology at University of Limerick.
Dr Carr, whose work focuses on racism experienced by Muslim communities in particular, explains what he feels it means to have a more inclusive society.
“The inspiration, the spark, the trigger for my research was a curiosity about racism. I’ve always been curious about trying to see how society works, who’s included, who’s excluded, and racism is something that is clearly very, very important and something that impacts upon so many different people.”
“An inclusive society for me is where people get to really realise their potential and ambitions, not having to worry about whether or not they will get a job, whether or not they will succeed, whether or not they will be able to live in such a neighborhood because they are coming from a particular identity background.
“It’s a society that feels free from all those barriers that are holding people back, barriers that diminish all of us. Because if somebody is being excluded right now and they haven't got the opportunity to bring their voice to the table because of who they are, then we all lose out.”
It’s the stance of the University of Limerick of saying to the world that ‘yes, we want to be part of a group that leads and we are open to new ideas.’ We are open to taking on these challenges. We are not afraid of it
It’s the stance of the University of Limerick of saying to the world that ‘yes, we want to be part of a group that leads and we are open to new ideas.’ We are open to taking on these challenges. We are not afraid of it
So how does working in research help to bring about meaningful change when it comes to such a vast challenge? For Dr Carr, it begins with vital understanding and education.
“What is quite clear is that those who experience racism experience it across their life course, across a whole range of different contexts, and it is something that is ever-present within their lives. What I wanted to do is really get an understanding of racism, and then to try and challenge racism at a social level.
“My current project, for example, is working with local communities to try and find ways where we can support people working within local authority contexts, to inform and educate about racism and anti-racism and how people can be supported as service users.
“Now we start to see a greater natural, organic relationship flourishing between local authorities and the service users they have from diverse backgrounds who were otherwise not engaging for whatever reason.
“The challenge is that racism is something that is so big. And this is a small piece, but it is a piece that in the broader context, within the Irish context, that provides us maybe with a space where we can leverage the experiences here, the insights we learn here to then inform a broader European context.
“It has been a really good process and it is partnership, it is collaboration. We are not going in with ‘this is the university, and this is what we are doing’. We are a collaboration of the University of Limerick, the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Doras in Limerick, and the Irish Network Against Racism. We are working together as a consortium, and we are working in partnership with the local authorities to try and provide evidence-based solutions to societal issues at a real grassroots level.
“While the challenge might be huge, we can take it one step at a time.”
In navigating such enormous challenges, it’s important to recognise the wins and each step forward on the journey. Dr Carr reflects:
“In terms of impact, for me, some of the most important work I have done so far has been working with international organisations and advising them on how racism is even understood, and seeing those understandings then translate into policies and recommendations that are used to hold nation states, governments to account.
“I would have maybe been cynical in the past, thinking ‘well, how much impact can you have in this space?’ But certainly, in one piece of work that I was involved with, a month after its publication, it was used in a monitoring report about how a particular government was treating negatively racialized minorities within their society.
“And that for me is quite encouraging because it's saying, ‘okay, this is making a difference’. It is an incremental thing. The challenge of racism is not something we're going to solve overnight, so we have to stay involved.”
While we are in this really privileged location in a beautiful university on a beautiful campus, we are plugged in to bigger debates, debates that really span across the globe right now, across a range of different issues
The fight Dr Carr and his colleagues are engaged in is a global one – but he has no doubts when it comes to the potential impact one university in Ireland can have.
“We are doing work that will have that profound effect on society in Ireland, in Limerick, but also outside of that. While we are in this really privileged location in a beautiful university on a beautiful campus, we are plugged in to bigger debates, debates that really span across the globe right now, across a range of different issues. On the topic of inclusivity, we are there. We are right there with the best of them in terms of trying to create a more inclusive society. We are really trying to lead in it.
“It’s the stance of the University of Limerick of saying to the world that ‘yes, we want to be part of a group that leads and we are open to new ideas.’ We are open to taking on these challenges. We are not afraid of it. We are not sitting back and saying, ‘okay, we are this new university, 50 years old’. We are saying, ‘no, this is our space. These are our issues. We claim these.’
“And we live those values. We step up.”
Dr James Carr is one of the faces of Stay Curious for Research, an award-winning University of Limerick campaign highlighting the work of UL Researchers under all four pillars of our Research Strategy. View the other videos in the series and learn more about this groundbreaking research here.
