Tariq Modood

Tariq Modood is a British sociologist whose research addresses multiculturalism, citizenship, ethnicity, secularism, and the place of religious minorities—particularly British Muslims—in public life. He has argued that religion must be considered alongside race as a dimension of inequality and political identity. His work has significantly shaped academic and policy debates on multiculturalism in Britain.

Tariq Modood is a professor of sociology at the University of Bristol, where he is the founding director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship. The centre is a leading research hub for the study of multiculturalism, ethnicity, and citizenship in Britain. He has held this position since establishing the centre in the early 2000s.

Tariq Modood has written extensively about British Muslims, arguing that their experiences of discrimination and integration cannot be captured by racial frameworks alone and that religious identity must be recognized politically. He has advocated for legal protections and institutional accommodations for religious minorities similar to those based on race and ethnicity. His work pushes back against strict secularism in favor of a more inclusive public sphere.

Tariq Modood advocates for a form of multiculturalism that integrates cultural and religious recognition with shared civic citizenship, rather than treating multiculturalism as merely coexistence. He has defended this framework against critics who argue multiculturalism has failed in Britain and Europe. His approach emphasizes active institutional accommodation of minorities alongside common democratic values.