Abdeslam Badre

Who produces knowledge about migrant communities, and how does their background shape what they find? These questions lie at the heart of Abdeslam Badre’s project, which examines how academic knowledge about the Moroccan diaspora in the Netherlands has been produced over the past fifty years.

Existing studies have covered a wide range of themes – from labour migration and integration to identity formation and inequality – but far less attention has been paid to how these narratives are constructed, and to what extent researchers critically reflect on their own influence in the process. Drawing on a systematic review of key academic publications and in-depth interviews with Dutch scholars, Badre explores how researchers’ social backgrounds, identities, and assumptions shape their research questions, methodologies, and interpretations. The project also examines how academic knowledge on migration feeds into broader public debates and policy discussions – a context often marked by politicisation and stereotyping – and highlights the risk of reproducing simplified or essentialist representations of Moroccan communities. Ultimately, the project makes a case for more reflexive, ethically aware, and inclusive research practices, and for scholarship that more accurately reflects the complexity of migrants’ lived experiences.