Research Interests
Human rights, transitional justice, democratization processes, conflict studies, international humanitarian law, international relations, migration, human trafficking
Research Area(s)
The MENA Region (Middle East and North Africa) and Africa, specifically the Sahel Region.
Profile
Mustapha Hadji is a PhD Candidate in the Law and Anthropology Department at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle. His experience includes working as a consultant for the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), where he researched and wrote a study on Morocco’s transitional justice experience and prevention, and working with the National Democratic Institute, where he was a programme director for youth political participation in Morocco. Additionally, Mustapha collaborated with the International Committee of the Red Cross, where he was a field protection delegate in charge of the protection of civilian populations affected by conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and a protection delegate in charge of conducting visits to high-security detention centres in Chad. Mustapha also worked as an academic adviser in Washington, D.C., for several years.
Mustapha holds a master’s degree in Global Affairs from George Mason University in the United States, a master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratization from the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice, Italy, and a bachelor's degree in Public Law and International Affairs from Moulay Ismail University, Morocco. His research project falls within the framework of the Max Planck Fellowship “The Intergenerational Memory of Mass Atrocities: The Missing Piece of Transitional Justice and Alternative Dispute Resolution,” led by Prof. Valérie Rosoux, Prof. Marie-Claire Foblets, and Prof. Hélène Ruiz Fabri.
Why Law and Anthropology?
Studying the effects of gross human rights violations on victims and communities is multidisciplinary in its very essence. Since the research project at hand aims to investigate the intergenerational memory of mass atrocities, knowledge of the law allows us to determine what constitutes a crime or a violation and what does not. On the other hand, anthropology helps us decipher and understand the complexity of the long-term effects those violations have on individuals and communities. An anthropological approach allows us to see things through a multilayered lens, thereby enhancing our understanding of conflicts within societies and cultures.