Overview

Profile summary

The Doctoral Phase

I obtained my BA in Social Anthropology from the University of Malta in 2009, and an MA in Social Anthropology from the University of Kent the following year, in 2010. Funded by the RAI Emslie-Horniman Research Grant, my doctoral project - also hosted by Kent - explored how the Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus that inhabit the Spanish enclave of Ceuta were using the notion of convivencia (cohabitation) to revise strongly held models of Spanish national identity and manage the enclave's mounting ethno-religious tensions in the face of economic recession and migration crisis. Ceuta's model of convivencia, which rested on an elaborate system of patronage and public ritual was full of contradictions (namely, its failure to address socio-economic inequalities between Muslims and Christians), and the goal of my dissertation was to find out how it survived and reproduced itself as the town's only viable model of colloquial citizenship and identification.

Since then? 

In 2014, l was appointed to a Lectureship in Social Anthropology at the University of Kent, where I taught lectures and seminars on a diverse set of modules related to Kinship and Economics, Gender and Sexuality, Ethnographic Writing, the History of Anthropological Theory, Conflict and Violence, and Medical Anthropology. This period was an especially fulfilling one, particularly since my students nominated me twice for Kent's Teaching Awards. I have also been invited to lecture at a number of European institutions, including Radboud University (Netherlands), the University of Malta, and the Martin Luther University (Germany), where I taught a module on Anthropology of/in Europe and the Mediterranean.

What about postdoctoral research? 

But I also have continued doing research in Ceuta. Between 2016 and 2019, I held a Research Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, where I was part of a muldisciplinary project entitled 'Convivencias: Iberian to Global Dimensions'. Directing anthropological contributions into the project, my team ethnographically explored how imaginations of medieval coexistence inspire efforts at peaceful multiculturalism in both contemporary Spain and Europe in general. The project additionally injected existing debates on convivencia with fresh anthropological toolsets, concepts and questions. In this respect, he encouraged dialogue not only between academic disciplines, but also between emic and etic users of convivencia as an analytical and political tool.

Ethnographically, my research in the enclave of Ceuta took a darker turn. Ceuta's migration crisis intensified, the informal trading at its gates - once a source for dreamy, hopeful, wealthy, cosmopolitan Ceuta - had devolved into patterns of quasi-slavery for many Moroccan traders, Ceuta's Muslims had organised themselves into a strong political movement critical of the establishment's model of convivencia, and a popular movement lobbying against crime in the city had evolved into a fully-fledged right-wing Christian party, openly hostile to sub-Saharan migrants and suspicious of the enclave's Muslim minority. Where once I studied the resilience of convivencia, I was now documenting how the safety nets that helped the system bounce back and kept the enclave's minorities in line were breaking one by one.

I also conduct multidisciplinary research on the politics of conservation and the destructive conflict between bird-hunters and NGO activists in Malta and consults projects of marine conservation in Malta.

Would you like to do postgraduate research with me? 

I currently supervise a number of MA students, and am very happy to supervise anyone interested in postgraduate research (MA or PhD) related to my expertise! For more info on the topics I work on, please click my research tabs... and do not hesitate to write me an email if you wish to discuss project ideas and funding opportunities!

Teaching interests

At the School of Humanities and Performing Arts of the University of Plymouth, I currently teach a range of practical and theoretical modules: 

  • ANTH 401 - Introduction to Anthropology
  • ANTH 403 - Fieldwork and Ethnography
  • ANTH 504 - The Anthropology of Crime, Law and Justice
  • ANTH 505 - The Anthropology of Knowledge, Truth and Conspiracy
  • ANTH 506 - Gifts and Commodities: A contemporary guide to Economic Anthropology
  • ANTH 507 - The Anthropology of Humour and Laughter 
  • ANTH 610 - Coastal Cultures and Marine Ethnography 

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
  • SDG 14 - Life Below Water
  • SDG 15 - Life on Land
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

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