Research

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Citizenship utopias in the global South: The pursuit of transformative alternatives in an era of civic disillusionment
The project (Academy of Finland) seeks to understand citizens’ perceptions and possibilities of transformative action in the contexts of populist authoritarianism, securitization of civil society and extractivist models of development. It examines emergent forms of activism and people’s ways to reimagine the state, and their possibilities to influence it, in the conditions of popular disillusionment. My research focuses on the civil society formations against racial discrimination in post-revolutionary Tunisia. For more information, click here.

What works? Youth transitions from education to employment in the Middle East and North Africa
The project (Academy of Finland) explores the dynamics of transitions to adulthood from the perspective of young people in the region. Especially, it examines young people’s agency and livelihood strategies while transitioning from education to the labour markets in the late 2010s and the early 2020s. My research examines young Egyptians’ pathways from education to work and marriage. For more information, click here.

ALL-YOUTH: All youth want to rule their world
The research consortium (funded by Strategic Research Council, Academy of Finland) examines the capacities of young people and the obstacles that hamper their engagement with society. It also explores the visions of youth regarding sustainable future, growth and well-being. My aim was to study the hopes of employment among young refugees and asylum-seekers in Finland through the medium of research-based documentary film. For more information, click here.

Beyond making do? Youth experiences of waithood in the Middle East
While the global population is historically young, the phenomenon of delayed transitions (from education to the labor market and to marriage) is prevailing and highly diverse. My aim in this project (funded by Kone Foundation) is to examine the lived experiences and conceptions of ‘waithood’ from youth perspective in the Middle East and North Africa, and particularly in Egypt.

Young Muslims and everyday resilience in Finland
I was involved in a research project that explores young Muslims’ sense of belonging, identities and supporting factors in their everyday lives in Finland. It is a participatory study that involves the use of audiovisual materials and the elements of co-analysis and performative research practices. The project received financial support from Kone Foundation. For more information, click here.

Youth and political engagement in contemporary Africa
I was a member of a research project that examined the forms, contents and experiences of political engagement in the everyday lives of young people in today’s Africa. It was a joint project of the Swedish School of Social Science (previously Development Studies) at the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Youth Research Network, and funded by the Academy of Finland. The research results include an edited volume that can be found here.

Being a young activist in the late Mubarak era: An ethnography of political engagement in Egypt
My doctoral research examines the politicization of urban youth and their lived experiences of political engagement during the last decade of Mubarak’s presidency in Egypt. I specifically examined the formation of youth movements, the appropriation of new tactics of nonviolent resistance, and the role of friendship and ethical reflection in political action. The thesis can be found here.

Researching Arab-Mediterranean youth: Towards a new social contract
I have been involved in a Sahwa-research consortium (EU/FP7) that examines the dynamics of political, social and economic transitions of young people in five Mediterranean countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, and Lebanon) in the 2010s. For more information, click here.

Young people in the refugee centres in Finland
Similary to many other European countries, Finland received an unprecedented number of asylum seekers in 2015. I was involved in a project that aims to better understand the lived experiences of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in Finland. It was organized by the Finnish Youth Research Network in cooperation with Save the Children Finland and the Advisory Council for Youth Affairs. Our publications can be found here (Finnish) and here (English).