Senior Lecturer
- About
-
- Email Address
- s.may@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272720
- Office Address
F69 Edward Wright Building
School of Social Sciences
University of Aberdeen
- School/Department
- School of Social Science
Biography
Dr Samantha May is a lecturer in the department of Politics and International Relations. She completed her AHRC funded doctorate at the University of Aberdeen in 2011 on Islamist ideologies and practices.
Dr May was awarded the Student Choice 'Most Inspirational Lecturer' of the Year Award for 2016 and 'Best Lecturer' award in 2014.. She was also nominated for the College of Arts and Social Sciences teaching exellence award for 2015 and 2014.
- Research
-
Research Overview
Broadly, my research interests lay within the relationship between politics and religion with a particular focus upon Political Islam and Islamist movements.
Currently I am researching the political and economic role of zakat and Islamic charity within the U.K and the consequences and challenges posed by recent changes within U.K charity law. Previous research was primarily concerned with Political Islam within the Middle East, in particular Hamas and Hizbullah. The focus of my research is the memory and legacy of Imperial non-Western political polities as an alternative to the Westphalian nation-state and the challenges they pose to current dominating ideas of territory, identity and economic practice.
Current Research
Currently I have just completed research for a Leverhulme funded project entitled: 'Zakat in the UK: Islamic Giving, Citizenship and Government Policy' which builds upon a previous British Academy pilot project entitled 'Identifying Political and Transnational Dimensions of Pious Alms Giving (zakat) in the United Kingdom' which aims to identify the national and transnational motivations of religious charitable giving by close case studies in London and Bradford. Of particular interest is the system of welfare embedded in pious alms giving as a foundation of societal organisation and community cohesion which is simultaneously national and transnational and a vital component to constructing a British Islamic identity.
Findings shed light on contemporary understandings of British Muslim citizenship and identity and alternative economic systems to both capitalism and socialism.
Collaborations
Co-editor of a special edition for the journal Politics, Ideology and Religion entitled "The Religious as Political and the Political as Religious: Globalization, Post-secularism and the Shifting Boundaries of the Sacred", which is an interdisciplinary collection of works examining the integral relationship between religion and politics within a post-secular framework.
May, S. and Sheikh, F. “Remembering the umma in the Confines of the Nation-State”, in Garnett, J. (ed.) Religion in Diaspora: Culture of Citizenship, Palgrave.
Funding and Grants
Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
Undergratuate:
Course Coordinator: Political Islam: Ideologies and Practices.
Team Lecturer for: Global Politics: Equality and Inequality
Taught Masters:
Course Coordinator: Religion, Conflict and Security.
Team Lecturer for: International Political Economy: Theory and Themes
- Publications
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Page 1 of 1 Results 1 to 14 of 14
Muslim charity in the United Kingdom: Between counter-terror and social integration
British Journal of Politics and International Relations, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 916-113Contributions to Journals: ArticlesThe Rise of the “Resistance Axis”: Hezbollah and the Legacy of the Taif Agreement
Power-Sharing After Civil War: Thirty Years Since Lebanon's Taif Agreement. Nagle, J., Clancy, M. (eds.). 1st edition. Routledge, pp. 115-132, 18 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003229766
Islamic Charity: How Charitable Giving Became Seen as a Threat to National Security
Zed Books, London. 197 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksThe Implications of Financial Legislation on Charities: The Case of Al-Barakaat
The Forum blog, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 28-29Contributions to Journals: ArticlesIslamic Charitable Giving in the UK: A ‘Radical’ Economic Alternative?
New Political Economy, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 913-625Contributions to Journals: Articles"The Best of Deeds": The Practice of Zakat in the UK
Journal of Church and State, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 200-221Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcs/csy034
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/14364/1/_system_appendPDF_proof_hi_1.pdf
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/14364/2/May_best_of_deeds_Church_and_state_vor.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Mendeley
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
The Rise of the “Resistance Axis”: Hezbollah and the Legacy of the Taif Accords
Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 115-132Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13537113.2019.1565184
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/15218/1/2_Revised_The_Rise_of_the.pdf
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
- [ONLINE] View publication in Mendeley
Are we really seeing the rise of a ‘new jihad’?
The ConversationContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesRemembering the Umma in the Confines of the Nation State
Religion in Diaspora: Cultures of Citizenship. Garnett, J., Hausner, S. L. (eds.). Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 80-99, 19 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersSharia and the Making of the Modern Egyptian: Islamic Law and Custom in the Courts of Ottoman Cairo
Politics Religion and Ideology, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 474-476Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2014.943357
The Religious as Political and the Political as Religious: Globalisation, Post-Secularism and the Shifting Boundaries of the Sacred
Politics Religion and Ideology, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 331-346Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2014.948526
God’s Land: Blurring the National and the Sacred in Waqf Territory
Politics Religion and Ideology, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 421-441Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2014.942990
Self-Immolations in Tibet and China – 2013 Update: Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Tibet, Briefing Paper No.5
Commissioned by Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group on Tibet. Scottish Parliament's Cross Party Group on Tibet. 13 pagesBooks and Reports: Commissioned ReportsPolitical Piety: The Politicization of Zakat
Middle East Critique, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 149-164Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19436149.2013.783536