Hassan Ould Moctar

Dr. Hassan Ould Moctar is an ESRC postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He also obtained his PhD from the SOAS Development Studies Department in May 2021. He holds an MSc in Migration and Ethnic Studies, which he obtained with distinction from the University of Amsterdam. His work has been published in academic journals, such as Environment and Planning: D, Anthropologie et Développement, and Movements: a journal of critical migration and border studies, as well as media outlets such as Al-Jazeera, Open Democracy, and Jadaliyya. He is currently guest editing special issues of the journals l’Ouest Saharien and Movements, and he sits on the editorial board of the Tamazagha Studies Journal (formerly Francophone North African studies journal CELAAN).

Hassan’s research concerns the relationship between migration, borders, and development processes, with a regional focus on Mauritania, the West African Sahel, and the Maghrib. In particular, he is interested in how the criminalisation of migration – and the resultant illegalisation of migrants – interacts with the racial and territorial legacies of colonialism, contemporary uneven development processes, and conflict and displacement dynamics. He is currently preparing a monograph based on his PhD thesis, which details how the EU border externalisation processes intervenes within social relations and structures in Mauritania.