My research is multidimensional, anti-colonial and anti-racist.
The core principal of my research career is to capture human’s (inter)subjective experience of the(ir) world and examine the intertwined relationship between the Self, the Other, and the socio-material environment. Moreover, my research has consistently revolved around the digital dimension of our being-in-the-world. Neither technophile, nor technophobe, my approach seeks to comprehend the evolution of sociabilities and interactional practices through the digitalization of our societies, with particular focus on the use of smartphones in face-to-face interactions, and video-calls.
My approach to the research field is that of what I call a decolonial visual ethnography, which involves collecting audiovisual data and is rooted in a horizontal and reflexive relation of trust between marginalized individuals (both myself and the participants) as opposed to a traditional ethnography originally rooted in colonial practices of power relations and cultural essentialism.
Furthermore, through a critical phenomenology, my research not only aims to describe our lived experiences of the world but also endeavors to uncover, critically analyze and challenge the oppressive forces that shape our perceptions of others and the world.
UPCOMING BOOK
Colonially Mediated Spaces and Beings addresses the intricate interplay between identity, mobility, and power, focusing on how these dynamics are mediated by omnicolonialism and reclaimed through interactional and sociodigital practices of resistance and belonging. I first assert that our lived experience is fundamentally relational, dialogical, and situated. Individuals exist at the intersection of movement and attachment—across spaces, temporalities, relationships—that give meaning and orientation to their lives. However, this nexus is disrupted by the omnicolonial matrix, which operates materially and ontologically to inhibit empathy, weaponize emotions, and alienate intersubjectivity. Exploring the case of high-skilled racialized migrants in Finland—the “happiest country in the world”—I analyze how migration regimes in Fortress Europe enact racialized geographies and commodify life itself. To explore these dynamics, I introduce Critical Phenomenology of Interaction—a novel framework for examining how digital-algorithmic and capitalist-imperialist structures shape our being-in-the-colonial-world. I show how micro-coloniality is both (re)produced in everyday social interactions and resisted—through cultural reclamation, intersectional allyship, and community and self-care.
Though this research is firmly anchored within the field of Linguistics, it constitutes an interdisciplinary approach aiming to establish a dialogue between Interaction Analysis and Phenomenology. This research examines the complex notion of identity by defining it as a verbal, technical, and intersubjective phenomenon. The bodily, sensory, relational and social human existence is henceforth engaged in digital interaction devices inducing unprecedented modalities of intersubjectivity. Therefore, I analyze the novel features of intersubjectivity involved in digital interactions. This study allows me to draw a topography of the spatio-temporal framework of a hybrid interaction, a typology of the acts of enacting existence on screen and a description of the ontological process of identity co-construction.
I first embarked on a research endeavor during my Master’s degree in Finland, in 2011, exploring the concept of “intercultural competence”. This qualitative empirical research highlighted the dynamic aspect of identity construction. This in turn sparked my curiosity to delve further into the intersubjective dimension of our being-in-the-world. I also realized that this exploration must be coupled with the omnipresence of digitalization in our societies. Within the realm of interpersonal interaction, my research increasingly prioritized the role played by the body, particularly in relation to digital artifacts. This line of inquiry led me to develop concepts such as ‘artifacted intercorporeality’ and ‘technobodily literacy’. However, the course of my research took a profound turn with the onset of the global pandemic. During this time, I engaged in fieldwork that focused on high-skilled migrants residing in Finland. I redirected my research pursuits towards migration in the digital era, with a specific emphasis on its historical and contemporary relation to colonialism.
Samira Ibnelkaïd 