My PhD research aims to uncover and examine the complex crimes and harms associated with cultures of demand and systems of supply in cosmetic injectables markets that provide goods and services for image-enhancement. Beauty and the pursuit of beauty via image-enhancement practices have received scant criminological attention (for notable exceptions see Antonopoulos and Hall, 2016; Hall, 2019). My PhD will thoroughly research offline and online markets in cosmetic injectables to illuminate the motivations behind their consumption and to unearth associated crimes and harms. To intensively research this under-studied phenomenon, the project has three specific objectives:
• To develop in-depth knowledge on cultures of demand in cosmetic injectable markets in online and offline contexts.
• To develop in-depth knowledge on systems of supply in cosmetic injectable markets in online and offline contexts.
• To unpack the crimes and harms associated with cosmetic injectable markets.
To investigate the objectives, my PhD will deploy ethnographic fieldwork methods, including traditional offline ethnography and innovative digital ethnography.
My PhD will be underpinned by the paradigm of Deviant Leisure (Smith and Raymen 2016) which enables the study of myriad harms structurally embedded in many forms of normalised leisure cultures and related markets of consumption. I will also draw on Ultra-Realism (Hall and Winlow 2015), which provides an appropriate framework for the complex analysis of the symptoms of the crime-consumerism nexus and below. Ultra-Realism enables causative forces and structures to be exposed, to provide an account of subjective motivations and reasonings as to why individuals seek the symbolism of consumer capitalism (Hall and Winlow, 2015).
I hold a BSc in Sociology with Psychology from Teesside University and an MA in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester. I have a strong background in research. I possess over 6 years of experience as an inter-disciplinary social researcher working in academia and the third-sector, across the disciplines of Criminology, Sociology and Public Health. I have been the lead researcher for various internally and externally funded projects including the European Commission, the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), the Clinical Research Network (CRN). My most recent post has been as a Research Associate and Project Manager in Public Health at Teesside University.
https://tees.academia.edu/ParisaDiba
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles:
• Burke, S., Diba, P., and Antonopoulos, G. (2020). ‘“You sick, twisted messes”: The use of argument and reasoning in Islamophobic and anti-Semitic discussions on Facebook’. Discourse and Society, pp. 1-16.
• Diba, P., Papanicolaou, G. and Antonopoulos, G. (2019). ‘The Digital Routes of Human Smuggling? Evidence from the UK’, Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 21(2), pp. 159-175.
Books:
• Antonopoulos, G.A., Baratto, G., Di Nicola, A., Diba, P., Martini, E., Papanicolaou, G., and Terenghi, F. (2020). Technology in Human Smuggling and Trafficking: Case Studies from Italy and the United Kingdom. Springer Criminology Brief.
Book Chapters:
• Papanicolaou, G., Diba, P., and Antonopoulos, G.A. (forthcoming, 2020). ‘Migrant smuggling and ICT: research advances, prospects and challenges’. In McAuliffe, M. (eds) Handbook of Migration and Technology. International Organization for Migration & Australian National University, Edward Elgar.
• Diba, P., Antonopoulos, G.A. and Papanicolaou, G. (2018) ‘The role of the Internet in the process of trafficking humans in the United Kingdom’. In van Duyne, P.C., Strémy, T., Harvey, J., Antonopoulos, G.A. & von Lampe, K. (eds) The Janus-Faces of Cross-Border Crime in Europe. (pp. 97-124) The Hague: Eleven International Publishing.
Research Reports:
• Di Nicola, A., Andreatta, D., Martini, E., Antonopoulos, G.A., Baratto, G., Bonino, S., Bressan, S., Burke, S., Cesarotti, F., Diba, P. and Ferret, J. (2020). HATEMETER: Hate speech tool for monitoring, analysing and tackling Anti-Muslim hatred online. eCrime.
• Diba, P., Antonopoulos, G.A. & Papanicolaou, G. (2017) www.surfandsound.eu: Improving and sharing knowledge on the Internet’s role in the human smuggling and trafficking process – United Kingdom Report. Report to the European Commission. Middlesbrough: Teesside University.
Conference Papers:
• Diba, P., Papanicolaou, G., & Antonopoulos, G.A. (2019) ‘The Digital Routes of Human Smuggling? Evidence from the UK’. Paper presented at the ‘Digitised Global Mobilities: The Role of New Media and Digitisation in The Security Approaches of The Refugee Crisis’ Conference, Renforce, Centre for Global Challenges, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 3 June.
For a full list of publications, see: https://research.tees.ac.uk/en/persons/parisa-diba
Presentations:
• Diba, P., Antonopoulos, G.A. & Burke, S. (2019) ‘Presenting the Findings and Analyses via the Hatemeter Platform – UK Context’. Presentation at the “Project HATEMETER Training Seminars, Day 1 for Academics & Research Organisations”, Université Toulouse 1 Capitole, Toulouse, France, 17 December.
• Diba, P., Antonopoulos, G.A. & Burke, S. (2019) ‘The UK Pilot: What is known about Islamophobia online // Effectiveness of the existing tools and techniques to fight against Islamophobia online’. Presentation at the “Project HATEMETER Training Seminars, Day 1 for Academics & Research Organisations, and Day 2 for Professionals”, Université Toulouse 1 Capitole, Toulouse, France, 17 and 18 December.
• Diba, P. & Antonopoulos, G.A. (2019) ‘Hate speech against Muslims on social media in the United Kingdom: Evidence from Project HATEMETER’. Presentation at the “Online Hate Talk Seminar – Race & Religion” (Funded by the British Psychological Society and the Edinburgh Futures Institute) Conference, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 22 July.
• Diba, P. & Antonopoulos, G.A. (2019) ‘Hate speech against Muslims on social media in the United Kingdom: Evidence from Project HATEMETER’. Presentation at the “Violent and Not-So Violent Extremism: Causes, Cases, Consternations” (sponsored by The International Politics Research Cluster) Conference, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK, 11 July.
• Diba, P., Papanicolaou, G., & Antonopoulos, G.A. (2019) ‘The Digital Routes of Human Smuggling? Evidence from the UK’. Presentation at the “Digitised Global Mobilities: The Role of New Media and Digitisation in The Security Approaches of The Refugee Crisis” Conference, Renforce, Centre for Global Challenges, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 3 June.
