Rima Saini is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Criminology and Sociology. She is Co-Chair of Ethics for the School of Law, Co-Lead of the Migration, Politics and Society Research Cluster, Social Policy Research Centre Co-Lead and Co-Chair of the Middlesex Unversity Anti-Racism Network. She is a also a Trustee of the British Sociological Association.
Rima completed an MSc in Research Methods at City, University of London in 2014 following a BA in Politics (SOAS) and an MA in Legal and Political Theory (UCL School of Public Policy). She completed a 3-year post as a City University of London Q-Step PhD Teaching Fellow in the Department of Sociology in September 2017. She was awarded her PhD in Quantitative Political Sociology in December 2019. She worked as Assistant Lecturer at the University of Kent 2017-2018 and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Southampton 2018-2019.
English, Hindi, Punjabi
Rima's teaching portfolio primarily covers critical quantitative and mixed research methods in the social sciences, and the sociology of race, ethnicity, migration and class. She currently supervises undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation students, and co-supervises three PhD students in the Department of Criminology & Sociology, the Department of Education and Nursing respectively.
She is currently (2023/24) leading / co-leading the following modules:
Rima's research interests cover:
Her academic publications include the following:
Saini, R., Zwiener-Collins, N., Jafri, J. and Poulter, T. (2024) Decolonising quantitative methods teaching in UK Sociology. In Bhambra, G., Meghji, A., Tinsley, M. and Papadakis, S. (eds) Rethinking British Sociology: Postcolonial and Decolonial Transformations. BSA: Sociological Futures Series. London: Routledge [under review]
Saini, R., Bankole, M. and Begum, N. (2023) The 2022 Conservative leadership campaign and post-racial gatekeeping. Race and Class. DOI: 10.1177/03063968231164599
Saini, R. (2023) Understanding Racialisation. Issue 3, Sociology Review Magazine, Hodder Education.
Saini, R. (2022) The racialisation of class and the racialisation of the nation – ethnic minority identity formation amongst the British South Asian middle classes. South Asian Diaspora. DOI: 10.1080/19438192.2022.2055518
Saini, R (2022) The racialised ‘second existence' of class: class identification and (de- / re-) construction across the British South Asian middle classes. Cultural Sociology. DOI: 10.1177/17499755221076388
Zwiener-Collins N., Jafri J., Saini R., Poulter T. Decolonising quantitative research methods pedagogy: Teaching contemporary politics to challenge hierarchies from data. Politics. August 2021. doi:10.1177/02633957211041449
Saini, R. (2021) (Pseudo)intellectualism and democratic (il)liberalism: on Aurelien Mondon and Aaron Winter’s “Reactionary democracy”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, DOI:10.1080/01419870.2020.1867759
Doidge, M. and Saini, R. (2020) The Short Guide to Sociology. Bristol: Policy Press
Saini, R. and Begum, N. (2020) Demarcation and Definition: Explicating the Meaning and Scope of 'Decolonisation' in the Social and Political Sciences. Political Quarterly: Reports and Surveys. 19(1) doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12797
Begum. N. and Saini, R. (2019) Decolonising the Curriculum. Political Studies Review. Professional Section: Teaching. 17(2), 196-201
Meghji, A. and Saini, R. (2018) Rationalising racial inequality: Ideology, hegemony and post-racialism among the Black and South Asian middle-classes. Sociology. 52(4), 671-687
Saini, R. (2018) Book review: ‘Plumbing the depths of immigration discourse’. Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture. Issue 67. 128-130
Harrison, E. Saini, R. and Zwiener, N. (2016) ‘Perceived quality of society’ In (eds.) Harrison, E., Quick, A., and Abdallah, S. Looking through the Wellbeing Kaleidoscope. London: New Economics Foundation.
Saini, R. (2015) Book review: 'Eric S Brown, The Black Professional Middle Class: Race, Class, and Community in the Post-Civil Rights Era', Work Employment and Society. 1041-1042.
Blog posts:
Bankole, M., Begum, N. and Saini, R. (2023). Minority ethnic politicians are pushing harsh immigration policies – why representation doesn’t always mean racial justice. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/minority-ethnic-politicians-are-pushing-harsh-immigration-policies-why-representation-doesnt-always-mean-racial-justice-206885
Saini, R. (2022, March 10) ‘Institutions and intersections: #IWD and women of colour in HE. BSA Everyday Society. Available at: https://es.britsoc.co.uk/institutions-and-intersections-iwd-and-women-of-colour-in-he/
Saini, R. (2020, August 11) ‘From management meetings to meaningful change: risks of institutional capture in the decolonisation of UK higher education and recommendations for delivering structural change’. LSE Impact Blog. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2020/08/11/from-management-meetings-to-meaningful-change-risks-of-institutional-capture-in-the-decolonisation-of-uk-higher-education-and-recommendations-for-delivering-structural-change/
Saini, R. (2020, June 22) ‘Sit stand, or take a knee: Symbolic acts and anti-racism’. MDX Minds. Available at: https://mdxminds.com/2020/06/22/genuine-anti-racism/
Saini, R (2018) ‘Stating the Sociological: Rima Saini’. The Sociological Review. Available at: https://thesociologicalreview.org/collections/stating-the-sociological/stating-the-sociological-rima-saini/
Saini, R. (2017). ‘‘Racial self-interest’ is not racism. Populist correctness gone mad?’ Media Diversified. Available at: https://mediadiversified.org/2017/03/23/racial-self-interest-is-not-racism-populist-correctness-gone-mad/
Saini, R. (2016). ‘Why political campaigns that target ethnic minority groups can go horribly wrong’. The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/why-political-campaigns-that-target-ethnic-minority-groups-can-go-horribly-wrong-56946
Co-PI on Research Facilitation Funding (RFF) project, a systematic literature review and critical discourse analysis of the framing of the 'student' in HE institutional EDI / decolonisation intiatives, January 2023-present
Co-I on evaluation framework for RISE refuge’s tri-borough domestic violence intervention, December 2021-present
Co-PI on Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) project developing a CPD framework for training in migrant organisations, February 2022-present
Co-PI on Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) funded ‘Decolonising the Curriculum’ review in the School Law, February 2021–July 2021
Co-PI on HEIF funded project ‘Student-led workshops using creative methods to gather qualitative data on belonging’, February 2021-July 2021
Co-I on HEIF funded mixed-methods research project ‘Exploring Digital Media Access, Use and Skills by British South Asians in England’ April-July 2020
