In conversation with Tariq Modood: Overcoming the odds to change thinking

CERC Migration held a lunchtime seminar with Tariq Modood. Born in Karachi, Pakistan, to refugee parents, Tariq migrated to the U.K. with his family at the age of eight. He was the first to go to university from his working-class secondary school, survived years in academic exile, and broke through barriers to become known for his innovative critique of sociological theory. 

Today, Tariq is an acclaimed expert in racism and exclusion, the founding director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, Bristol University, and is widely published and regularly sought after for consultancies, fellowships and speaking engagements. He has been recognized as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, awarded an MBE, made a member of the Academy of Social Sciences (U.K.) and elected a Fellow of the British Academy.  

Tariq shared some of his founding influences, the key moments of serendipity or perseverance that changed his trajectory, and told our audience why he was optimistic for a future of diversity and inclusion.