Mohamed Oubenal

Amazigh (Berber) culture has long been studied by researchers, yet its specific realities in urban environments have received surprisingly little attention. Mohamed Oubenal bridges this gap by examining how Amazigh culture navigates and transforms within cities and modern institutional frameworks.

Drawing on ethnographic research conducted in Morocco and among Amazigh communities in Europe, he weaves together deeply personal life stories with a critical analysis of French colonial archives. His approach goes beyond a critique of Western perspectives to also examine how local nationalist movements have created their own cultural hierarchies. Integrating decolonial and subaltern frameworks, the project shows how traditional legacies are not simply preserved in the modern city, but actively reimagined within it.