Ikhlaq Din

“One reason for the poverty of ethnographic research in this area might simply be the difficulties of access”.

(Ikhlaq Din, 2008).

All the visits I made to towns and cities since 1988, people never asked whether I authored a paper or even a book (and rightly so).

They were interested in me as a individual, this was the start of the trust and genuine rapport building.
(Din, field notes: 1988).

You can’t be an ‘outsider’ examining the lives of individuals as an ‘insider’.

It’s standing at the front door, detached from what is happening inside.

(Din, field notes: 1988)

“I’m Not From ‘Round Here”.

Researchers by-passing the street, neighbourhood and the community assuming the participant lives in isolation, completely detached from their physical environment or lacking any meaningful human contact.

Back in ‘88 I was in Alum Rock, Birmingham intergenerational conflict among second generation British Pakistanis had taken a hold.

Ethnography would reveal the grassroots tensions and how this was played out on the streets, the neighbourhoods and in the community.

(Din, 2001)

To be able to relate to people ‘straight off the bat’ with diverse groups and communities, to be able to fit in as ‘one of them’ is key as a researcher.

It’s not only engagement with individuals but a connection.

I never went A to B rather travelled through A to Z to the community centre.

Hearing stories of resilience, grit and hope which would otherwise be lost travelling only from A to B or having to use a SatNav.
Ikhlaq Din

Pakistani community has been explored over decades.

Visiting diverse groups and centres, places of worship, corner shops, take-aways, markets, barbers, bazaars, melas and festivals.

Visiting Halifax, Huddersfield, Leeds, Keighley, Birmingham, Manchester, London and others.

Visiting towns and cities with a predominant Pakistani population was key to understanding the similarities and any differences compared to what was happening in Bradford in the late 80s.

It was to achieve a 360° view not from secondary data but firsthand.

Ikhlaq Din (2001)

By visiting towns and cities in England from ’88 that had an growing Pakistani population I was able to capture micro-dynamics often missed in survey-based data. I was looking for a 360° view.

This strengthened the findings of the thesis.

(Ikhlaq Din, 2001)

It wasn’t a single spark that ignited the Bradford Riots in 1995 and 2001 but rather a culmination of social factors. The economic factors don’t tell the whole story.

(Ikhlaq Din, 2006, 2008)

Gatekeepers are an invaluable source of help I have engaged with them in Bradford, Birmingham, Keighley, Leeds, Leicester, London, Manchester, Sheffield, Slough and elsewhere since ‘88.

And the very many diverse groups and communities. Engagement is longitudinal.

Thank you.

Sitting at a local café striking up conversations with the locals they tell you everything you need to know about people, their life, their neighbourhood and their community.

It’s human connection and immersive.
(Ikhlaq Din)

Groups of young men hanging on street corners, getting into the wrong crowd led to the early formation of territorial or ‘turf’ gangs in Bradford.

When the 1995 Bradford disturbances occurred, they had already become part of the fabric of community life.
(Ikhlaq Din, 2001)

There are many groups and communities that should be represented in research: from the majority and the minority; the ‘minority within minority’; the marginalised; the excluded and the ‘hard to reach’.

This can avoid skewing the data and sampling bias.

Pakistani men were involved in gang related activities, females were subjected to cultural restrictions at home.

Girls would see this as an attraction to get into a relationship to ‘escape’ from home leading to their involvement in gangs.

(Ikhlaq Din, 2001)

It’s labour intensive to recruit to research studies, refusals are high. This is exacerbated when aiming for diverse or underrepresented individuals, due to factors like language barriers or cultural mistrust.

Outreach and engagement can help to buffer this trend.

From my decades (not just 3 years) of experience of health and social research with the British South Asian and Black/Caribbean communities.

Shared decision making has always been an ethical dilemma in research yet overlooked.

(Ikhlaq Din, forthcoming book).

An Ethical Dilemma:

‘Shared decision making’ from the initial phone call to the consent and on-going participation in the study.

A ‘family consent’ that often includes the family, kin members, relatives, neighbours the participant is sometimes the last person to ‘consent’ in South Asian families.

Researchers need to be aware that drawing conclusions from the ‘easy to reach’ or from the ‘typical demographics’ may not be representative of the population.

Who actually took part?

(Ikhlaq Din, 2006)

More of the Same?

Research reflects the findings of the people who take part: So the question is who is taking part? From the typical demographics and the ‘easy to reach’.

Whereas, I always looked for the very hard to reach (Ikhlaq Din).

I wasn’t collecting data but testimonies: their fears, resilience and disillusionment set against the backdrop of huge social upheaval.

The approach was to treat them as narrators rather than data points bringing nuance to a discourse too often dominated by statistics.

I was capturing lived experiences of Pakistani youth in Bradford (from 1988) amid rising community tensions.

Their narratives would reveal nuanced impacts of crime and societal change: fear, resilience and identity struggles not captured in statistics or research.
(Ikhlaq Din)

The Emergence of Gangs:

The Riots of 1995 and 2001 were not sudden but the culmination of long term social dynamics as described in my seminal thesis.

It was ethnographic exploration at ground level and street level in Bradford that allowed me to describe what was happening.

My ethnographic work from 1988 showed discontent on the streets of Bradford.

Textiles had closed down, generational conflict was rife, the young Asians were trying to fit into British society it was a melting pot of dissatisfaction pointing to Bradford Riots in 2001.

Ikhlaq Din

My ethnographic work started in 1988 the thesis was completed just before the outbreak of the 2001 Riots.

I pointed to the formation of street level gangs and the marking of territory in Bradford and what was to come.

…then came the Riots in the
Summer of 2001

Ikhlaq Din

Ethnography isn’t just data it’s testimony:

My work starting from 1988 I was capturing a gritty yet deeply connected social tapestry: identity, kinship and tensions of community life among Pakistanis in Bradford.

Ikhlaq Din

I was looking for more than data I was looking for the testimony of the youth at a time of enormous change and tension taking place within the Pakistani community in Bradford.

I did not treat them as data points but as narrators of their own reality.

Ethnography by Ikhlaq Din

The power dynamics within British South Asian households often complicate Informed Consent mediated by the ‘family’ hierarchy over individual autonomy reflecting nuanced collectivist values.

Western frameworks can struggle to accommodate these nuances.

A walk into the fabric of the community in Bradford:

Walking past the hustle and bustle of the busy Market, men at the barbers are discussing last night’s football, the older women are talking about the ‘boats’, it’s lively, gritty and deeply connected. (Ikhlaq Din)