Mustahid Husain

Academic Background:

Prior to the UTM, Dr. Husain completed his doctoral and postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia, where he received the university's Future Alumnus Award.  

Research Interests/ Ongoing projects:

Dr. Husain's research and pedagogy intersects digital, feminist, and socio-cultural anthropology within three broad categories: i) socio-economic and racial inequality within global political economy; ii) racialized youth and mental health across the gender stream; and iii) community-engaged scholarship with an emphasis on creating and sustaining research partnerships with community grassroots organizations, with a focus on South Asia and South Asian diaspora.

Dr. Husain’s SSHRC funded ongoing research examines how Muslim subjects’ masculinities are shaped by the inter-generational, inter-male dominance in a diasporic context and the ways in which these emergent masculinities reshape mental health.

Recent Publications/Achievements:

Dr. Husain’s upcoming monograph Masculinity and Mental Health of Muslim Men of Colour: Diaspora and Intersectionality of Canadian Youth (Palgrave 2024) unpacks the socio-cultural factors that contribute to poor mental health of male Muslim Canadian youth of South Asian origins. The monograph explores the connection between recuperative masculinity and Islamic neoliberalism and then proposes community-based solutions to support the mental health of diaspora youth, using an intersectional lens.

His previous monograph Development, Neoliberalism, and Islamism in South Asia: The Case of Bangladesh (Palgrave 2022) offers a unique perspective on neoliberal policies leading to social change in the Bangladeshi state by contributing to the othering, impacting industries such as migration and development, and shaping the daily lives of the people. The book has been reviewed widely by reputed peer-reviewed journals such as Contemporary South Asia, Economic and Political Weekly, Canadian Journal of Development Studies.

In addition, Dr. Husain’s work features in a range of journal articles, book chapters and edited volumes as well as received press coverage in Foreign Policy and The Times Higher Education.

Literary Work:

Dr. Husain’s debut novel in English Double Truths is a provocative institutional ethnography on the World Bank. It draws inspirations from Saidiya Hartman's idea of critical fabulation to blend contemporary history and fictional narrative to make productive sense of the cautiously hidden cracks and muted voices in the accounts of international development aid. Through the rich colours of Bengali culture, the cleansing relief of monsoons, and the enchanting scent of jasmine, readers will connect with the protagonist’s struggle with the identity of home and lost love as he drowns himself in a murky international bureaucracy.