I am a cultural anthropologist with a background in political economy. My research focuses on theories of money and value; speculative bubbles; housing and construction; corruption and the rule of law; migration and remittances; postsocialist transformations; and societies of the Mediterranean.
I have published on Ponzi schemes, mobile money, corruption and anti-corruption, remittances, housing, anti-Airbnb protests, and urban development in postsocialist and Mediterranean cities.
Currently, I am working on the project Mediterranean Dreaming: Migration and Tourism Massification in Maritime Cities. which emerged from my tenure as the Germaine Tillon Chair of the Mediterranean Tomorrow Fellowship at the IMéRA Institute of Advanced Studies in Marseille, France, in Fall 2023.
During 2026-2029, I will be a Safe Space for Science Research Fellow at Mesopolhis: Centre Méditerraneéen de Sociologie, de Science Politique & d’Histoire at Aix-Marseille University. Thanks to a grant from the French government and the AMIDEX Foundation, I will expand my Mediterranean Dreaming project, conducting research in Barcelona (Spain), Marseille (France), and Vlora (Albania).
See here recent publications, blog posts, and podcasts.
Contact: musaraj[at]ohio.edu