Podcast: Roundtable on Faith, Belief and Inclusion in London

On 12 June 2018, 25 local organisations, academics and policy experts gathered to discuss factors for exclusion for Londoners from different faiths and beliefs, and to share good practice on inclusion.

Belonging involves all aspects of a person’s identity. Londoners from different faiths and beliefs can be excluded due to their beliefs or practices of faith/belief, and they may also be excluded due to other aspects of their identities. The roundtable discussed the intersections and tensions involved in including different aspects of identity (religion and belief, as well as ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, age and ability). The roundtable was chaired by Tamanda Walker.

Listen to the entire roundtable

The discussion on the day addressed important questions about faith, belief and identity:

• How does a person’s faith and belief identity overlap and meet other aspects of identity?
• In what ways can people with a strong or visible faith and belief identity be excluded or maginalised due to their other identities?
• Are there any challenges and/or tensions faced by including people with different intersections of identities?
• What or who tends to be excluded when we talk about including people from different faith and belief backgrounds?

These questions were addressed by three thoughtful and challenging speakers from a range of backgrounds.

Naomi Thompson, Lecturer in Youth and Community Work, Goldsmiths, University of London shared from her research about exclusion and inclusion of young people.

Listen to Naomi’s talk

William Ackah, Lecturer in Community and Voluntary Sector Studies, Birkbeck, University of London, talked about the importance of including people from African and Caribbean backgrounds holistically, and the problems that arise when people are only allowed to include parts of their identities.

Listen to William’s talk

Line Nyhagen, Reader in Sociology, Loughborough University, shared her research with Muslim and Christian women about citizenship, inclusion and lived faith in the UK, Norway and Spain.

Listen to Line’s talk

The roundtable also shared inspiring case studies of local groups working for inclusion in ways that connect our multiple aspects of identity.

Joanne McCrone, Refugee Response Coordinator, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Department, Diocese of Southwark, shared examples of including new arrivals to the UK through English classes which address different aspects of identity.

Listen to Joanne’s talk

Alison Jones, Community Cohesion Coordinator, and Rumana Begum, Parental Support Worker, Marion Richardson Primary School, shared their work to include parents from different religious and cultural backgrounds in the education of their children and in learning from each other.

Listen to Alison’s talk

Siobhán Anderson, Programmes Coordinator, The Faith & Belief Forum, shared examples of her work in the LGBT+ Faith project to include people from different faith backgrounds in the services provided by LGBT organisations in the UK.

Listen to Siobhán’s talk

The roundtable was part of a series on addressing barriers to belonging for Londoners from different faiths and beliefs, organised by the Faith & Belief Forum and The Birkbeck Department of Psychosocial Studies, with support by a grant from Dangoor Education. Briefing papers based on the roundtables will be published in the Autumn on 2018.