I am a Political and Social Geographer with a PhD in Geography from Queen Mary University of London. My doctoral research critically examined the intersections of security, race, and education, with a particular focus on the impacts of counter-extremism measures in schools across London, highlighting how these policies shape the experiences of teachers and Muslim parents. Broadly, my work is grounded in critical geography and aims to challenge dominant narratives around security and citizenship through engaged, interdisciplinary scholarship. I am currently teaching at LSE where I work on an interdisciplinary programme which looks at the social aspects of Artificial Intelligence. My latest research considers the geopolitics of AI and its relationship to Islamophobia.
Latest Publications
“In these urgent times, obscuring the truth through AI will only serve to cloud our vision, a paradox we must remain alert to as the volume of content at our fingertips continues to mushroom unabated.”
upcoming Events
Upcoming talk on 16th May [online]
Secrecy and Redaction in the War on Terror
Secrecy played a defining role in shaping surveillance practices and policing during the War on Terror. The haunting photos from the 2004 Abu Ghraib prison scandal is one way in which we can understand how secrecy functioned in the War on Terror, as only through the publication of the photos was the extent of torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners made public knowledge. Other ways in which secrecy was maintained during the War on Terror was through the operation of ‘black site’ prisons, where those suspected of terrorism were detained beyond public scrutiny and legal oversight as well as the detention of almost a thousand Muslim men at Guantánamo Bay (GTMO) prison, where key information about detainee treatment was deliberately withheld. Additionally, heavily redacted policies by the US administration conceals the extent of state actions under the guise of national security. In this talk, I explore the political function of redaction, arguing that it is used as a mechanism of secrecy and a tool of invisibility. Drawing on the autobiographical account of former GTMO detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi, I examine how redaction was used to shield interrogators who engaged in torture, obscuring both individual accountability and the broader structures of state violence.
