We recognise the importance of ethnicity and migration to the study of contemporary societies and polities, and to prospects for social justice and social cohesion. Based in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS), the Centre co-ordinates and promotes the study of ethnicity in three broad areas:

• Ethnicity, politics and citizenship: the politics of multiculturalism and other forms of ‘difference’, including gendered ethnicity and ethno-religious identities, challenges to secularism, the nation-state and the emergence of new forms of political participation and governance.
• Ethnicity and inequalities: racialised exclusion, inter-generational poverty, labour markets, education, ethnic stratification and social mobility, ethnic competition.
• Migration and transnational networks: labour migration, the family, gender and migration; elite and non-elite mobilities, migration policy; transnationalism and diaspora.

Cross-cutting these themes is a distinctive approach combining research into political discourses and socio-economic structures, with an interest in everyday practices, culture, and experience, on the one hand, and normative theory on the other.

With the growth of the Muslim populations in western Europe and concerns about integration, a special regional and comparative focus has emerged on Muslims and the place of religion in public affairs.

Centre members collaborate with partners in the UK, the rest of Europe and North America, and are involved in global networks. Activities are pursued through funded research, publications, conferences and seminars, with public engagement being a priority. The international journal, Ethnicities, published by Sage since 2001 is a flagship of the Centre, as is the Palgrave Politics of Identity and Citizenship book series.