Acknowledgements

I would like to thank a number of people and organisations who have supported and encouraged me through this research process. Firstly, I would like to thank the interview participants who so generously gave of their time and trusted me to share the often challenging experiences they have had with their research – this book could not have been written without them. I would also like to thank Professors Dave Gillborn and Kalwant Bhopal, Directors of the Centre for Research on Race in Education, at the University of Birmingham, who kindly gave research support in 2019 and 2022, respectively. I am also indebted to Peter Dorman, the former President of the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon, for the opportunity of spending a formative period of my career at AUB from 2012 to 2017, and his wife, Kathy Dorman, for kindly welcoming me and the family to the AUB community. I also thank the then Provost Ahmad Dallal, former Dean of the Faculty of Arts; Sciences Professor Patrick McGreevy; Head of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies Professor Sari Hanafi; and Professor Samir Kalaf for leading the dynamic intellectual atmosphere AUB is known for during this period and for their intellectual generosity and friendship.

I am grateful to Rebecca Taylor and Isabel Collins, commissioning editors at Cambridge University Press, who have provided empathetic support and guidance throughout the writing process and have been generous in granting two extensions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks also to Rosie Wood who has worked on the index of the book.

Finally, I would not have been sustained throughout this period without the love of my family and friends. I cannot thank my mother and father enough for a lifetime of love and support, the encouragement of my dear friend Soumaya Al-Hajj, and the love and joy my sons Hibou and Magdi bring me.