(Working) thesis title: 

Postcolonial Cultural Formations in the Political Present

Supervisor(s): 

Professor Mike Savage and Dr Carrie Friese

Thesis Abstract:

My current research broadly explores the relationship between emancipatory politics, culture, and society, with a focus on the evolving post- and anti-colonial condition, particularly in relation to the SWANA region and its diasporas. I examine how this condition is articulated in a political present shaped by enduring structures of empire, paying attention to the political tensions and forms of subjectivity that arise from it, as well as how these manifest in cultural form. This strand of work leads me to engage with contemporary visual culture and literature, as both practices and sites where shifting historical conditions are theorized and reimagined.

My PhD project:

My doctoral project (2020-25), funded by an LSE PhD Studentship, specifically explores how the afterlives of revolution and political defeat following the Arab Spring have been interrogated through cultural and discursive interventions that emerged from a ‘fugitive’ geography of exiled and diasporic SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) networks.

Drawing on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, my research approaches Berlin as a historically situated case study to examine what is at stake for a social formation of artists, cultural workers, and political actors connected to emancipatory struggles in the SWANA region, while navigating a postcolonial condition from Germany. Against the backdrop of an increasingly hostile Europe shaped by exclusionary nationalisms, I contemplate my interlocutors’ cultural and discursive interventions, the sociopolitical traditions they are situated within, as well as the kinds of precarious belongings and subjectivities articulated in the process.

At LSE Sociology, I have taught advanced social theory at the undergraduate level (Highly Commended for the LSE Class Teacher Awards 2022-23) and served as a GTA representative. I have also served on the organizing committee for the departmental conferences; ‘Who Counts? The Politics of Human Classification’ (2021), ‘Societies in Crises’ (2022), as well as ‘Writing as Repair’ (2023), a workshop supported by the British Sociological Association and the LSE PhD academy. Before joining the Department of Sociology, I held research and professional services roles at the LSE Middle East Centre. My work included administering projects between LSE and Arab universities as part of the Centre’s flagship collaboration programme, as well as conference planning and research assistance in coordination with transregional stakeholders across academia, government, and civil society. 

Beyond academic research and teaching, I maintain a visual art practice that spans painting and photography, alongside ongoing experiments in sociologically grounded film practices. The themes explored often reflect my political commitments and intellectual concerns. I am also a senior freelance editor, with experience facilitating interdisciplinary trainings for both academic and practitioner audiences. If you are in a related field or have similar interests, I’m always happy to chat - please feel free to get in touch. I also welcome opportunities related to cultural programming, teaching, and editorial work.