Mustahid's research and pedagogy interests fall within three broad categories:
socio-economic and racial inequality within global political economy
racialized youth and mental health across the gender stream
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
Mustahid's research initiatives, supported by Canadian tri-council funding from organizations like the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and Social Science and Humanities Research Council,
employ an intersectional framework to examine diaspora communities and their well-being.
Publications:
Mustahid’s work features in a range of an ethnographic novel, monographs, journal articles, book chapters and edited volumes as well as received press coverage in Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Foreign Policy, and Times Higher Education.
This ground-breaking monograph delves into the complexities of masculinity, mental health, and cultural identity among young Bangladeshi-Canadian men. Employing an anthropological, intersectional approach, it scrutinizes the interplay of neoliberalism, Islamic piety, and diasporic experiences in shaping their masculine trajectories. The study unravels the intergenerational trauma, parental pressures, and societal expectations that contribute to their deteriorating mental well-being. With a unique insider perspective and rich empirical data, the findings fill a crucial gap in the literature by offering invaluable insights for scholars exploring the nuances of migration, ethnicity, gender, and psychological resilience. Strikingly, the monograph proposes evidence-based interventions and policy recommendations to address the mental health struggles of this underserved population, making it a must-read for academics and policymakers alike.
This monograph analyzes development through an examination of those class relations and how they are situated vis-à-vis the politics of development and economic globalization in Bangladesh, and how they shape aid delivery mechanisms and aid recipients' choices in participating in such program. One of the main findings is that development in Bangladesh relies on dual hegemony, which he articulates as an alliance between the new Bangladeshi political and economic elite and the Western international aid/development industry. Dr. Husain argues that dual hegemony functions in such a way that it erodes the Bangladeshi middle-class and reinforces class and caste differences through the privatization of the public sector and greater fragmentation of civil society. This book is of interest to scholars of political Islam, international politics, and security studies, including terrorism and the politics of South Asia.
