About me

I am a scholar of global political economy examining questions about labour, migration, and development in the global economy.

I am based at Leiden University, the Netherlands, where I have tenure. At Leiden, I direct the Leiden Political Economy Group (L-PEG), and teach graduate and undergraduate courses in the International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies programmes. Alongside this, I am Associate Editor of the International Studies Review (ISR), the flagship review journal of the International Studies Association. I am also President of the Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies, and Research Fellow at the Governance of Migration and Diversity (GMD) Centre, Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities.

My primary work examines four themes (1) labour and migration governance, (2) the political economy of job seeking, (3) the future of work under changing regimes of technology and regulation, and (4) the political economy of resource dependency amid a future in which the world is less oil reliant. I utilise archival, ethnographic, interview, and survey methods, and actively engage non-Western, global perspectives. I draw on field research in countries in the Middle East, South Asia, East Africa, and Western Europe.

My most recent book, Millennial Dreams in Oil Economies: Job Seeking and the Global Political Economy of Labour in Oman is currently in production with Cambridge University Press. I'm looking forward to seeing this out in the world soon!

I recently published The South Asia to Gulf Migration Governance Complex (Bristol University Press, 2022) coedited with Nicolas Blarel. My work has also been published in a number of key journals in the field, including New Political Economy, Third World Quarterly, International Journal, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Global Social Policy, among others. You can read more about my projects and publications on this site.

In my free time, you can find me hiking and paddling (or daydreaming of hiking or paddling).

Professional Experience

I have 20 years of experience in education and non-profit.

I served as chair of the Middle Eastern Studies department at Leiden University from 2019 to 2021, where I led a staff of 40 colleagues and 150 undergraduate and graduate students, and was responsible for our BA and MA programmes. I also have academic leadership and planning experience from my role in the academic planning unit at York University in Toronto, Ontario and from serving as the inaugural head of the Business Studies department at Shinas College of Technology in Oman.

Prior to joining Leiden in 2014, I lectured at the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Shinas College. In non-profit, I worked as a research associate for the Jerusalem Old City Initiative, a track-two diplomacy initiative seeking governance and security solutions for the Old City of Jerusalem, as a youth programme coordinator at the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County, and also as co-PI of a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) - funded project with the United Group for Democratic Development in Cairo, Egypt.

I write, speak, and consult in several areas connected to economic development planning, including labour market governance and regulation, migration governance, platform economies, future of work, knowledge economies, youth and employment, Gulf-Asia relations, among others.

Education

I received my PhD in Global Governance from the University of Waterloo, Canada where I was trained in the fields of International Relations and Global Political Economy. I also have an MA in Political Science, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Windsor.

Recent Appointments

Omani Studies Fellow, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO), Berlin, Germany (2021)

Visiting Scholar, Economic Planning Policies & Economic Studies, Department of Economic Development, Dubai Economy, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (2018)

Visiting Researcher, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India (2017)

Fellow, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Waterloo, ON, Canada (2013 – 2014)