Critical knowledge-making in the age of Prevent: a collaborative auto-ethnography of Muslim female doctoral students

Abstract

In British higher education, Muslims are often constructed as threats to the state through the process of securitisation. This framing, rooted in anti-Muslim racism, intersects with gendered and Orientalist discourses that position visibly Muslim women in contradictory ways. Such narratives have created a chilling effect on Muslim women academics and students who pursue critical scholarship challenging these securitised views. This paper draws on autoethnographic journal accounts from four British Muslim doctoral researchers and their supervisor to examine moments when perceptions of state surveillance shaped their academic decisions. The thematic analysis identifies three central dynamics: surveillance and self-censorship, the burden of representation, and the anti-Muslim politics of knowledge production. These findings highlight how securitisation policies, such as Prevent, compromise academic freedom and intellectual diversity, emphasising the need to reconsider their role in universities committed to democratic values and inclusive knowledge production.