Ben Laws – författare

In 2013 and the years that followed, a series of attacks unfolded across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - attributed to militant Hindu nationalist, Islamist, and sometimes complicit state actors - targeting irreligious dissenters. These included the murder of rationalist leader Narendra Dabholkar in India, the machete attacks on 'atheist bloggers' in Bangladesh, and the death sentence imposed on academic Junaid Hafeez in Pakistan. Amid a vast literature on Hindutva, militant Islam, communal politics and the legal regimes that surround them, Dissentiments approaches these dynamics from a distinctive angle: their fraught and sometimes violent relationship with people labelled as non-religious. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Europe, it examines how these individuals navigate the risks of public expression where religion remains intertwined with nationalism and political authority, and perspectives on how non-religious critique becomes both vulnerable and politically productive. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

In 2013 and the years that followed, a series of attacks unfolded across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - attributed to militant Hindu nationalist, Islamist, and sometimes complicit state actors - targeting irreligious dissenters. These included the murder of rationalist leader Narendra Dabholkar in India, the machete attacks on 'atheist bloggers' in Bangladesh, and the death sentence imposed on academic Junaid Hafeez in Pakistan. Amid a vast literature on Hindutva, militant Islam, communal politics and the legal regimes that surround them, Dissentiments approaches these dynamics from a distinctive angle: their fraught and sometimes violent relationship with people labelled as non-religious. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Europe, it examines how these individuals navigate the risks of public expression where religion remains intertwined with nationalism and political authority, and perspectives on how non-religious critique becomes both vulnerable and politically productive. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

This book focuses on the emotional experience of imprisonment. In no uncertain terms: prisons seethe with emotions and feelings. Based on two empirically rigorous studies, this book analyses how prisoners attempt to adapt and control their emotions. It begins with an account of male and female prisoners held in medium-security prisons and then moves to the particular case of emotions in solitary confinement. There has been a turn towards emotions in criminology but this is the first book to centralize the subject of prisoner emotions in a detailed manner. The ethnographic study of feelings has much to contribute to broader debates about survival in prison and pathways to desistence. Most importantly, it emphasizes that ‘full-blooded’ depictions of prisoners belong at the heart of academic inquiry.

This book focuses on the emotional experience of imprisonment. In no uncertain terms: prisons seethe with emotions and feelings. Based on two empirically rigorous studies, this book analyses how prisoners attempt to adapt and control their emotions. It begins with an account of male and female prisoners held in medium-security prisons and then moves to the particular case of emotions in solitary confinement. There has been a turn towards emotions in criminology but this is the first book to centralize the subject of prisoner emotions in a detailed manner. The ethnographic study of feelings has much to contribute to broader debates about survival in prison and pathways to desistence. Most importantly, it emphasizes that ‘full-blooded’ depictions of prisoners belong at the heart of academic inquiry.

This open access Palgrave Pivot explores the experiences of nonreligious asylum seekers in Northern Europe. While religious persecution is often cited as a reason for seeking asylum, nonbelievers also face significant persecution in their home countries due to their lack of religious affiliation. Despite this, their experiences are frequently overlooked in academic discussions, and asylum assessment centers have been slow to develop frameworks that address their unique challenges. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research from Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands, this book provides a comprehensive examination of the challenges nonbelievers face, as well as the opportunities they create as agents within the system. Emotions offer an analytical window into the world of nonbelievers, highlighting their desperation and innovative practices of evidence creation. Throughout the book, the logics of credibility assessment are critically explored, revealing the cultural chasm between assessors and nonreligious claimants.