Malika Ouacha

Malika Ouacha

  • 11 February 2026
  • 5 min read
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Malika Ouacha, Ph.D

Indiana University, USA
Profile

Malika Ouacha, PhD is a researcher and lecturer at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University, The Netherlands, and serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Zakat Foundation Institute, Indianapolis University. She has a strong interdisciplinary academic background as a social and cultural anthropologist, holding a PhD in Business and Management from Erasmus University. In addition to her doctoral degree, she holds two master’s degrees in Cultural and Social Anthropology and in the Sociology of Non-Western Societies, which enrich her analytical approach to understanding social and organizational dynamics.

Her primary research focus lies in diaspora and bicultural philanthropy, examining the motivations and behaviors of volunteers and donors with dual identities—such as immigrants and refugees—who channel support to their countries of origin. Her doctoral dissertation, entitled “Receiving by Giving,” provides an in-depth analysis of the dynamics of transnational giving.

Beyond her academic work, Dr. Ouacha is actively engaged in social leadership roles. She serves as Chair of the Board at the Expertise Centre Humanitarian Communication (HuCom) and leads the European Union–funded project “Museums and Restoration Volunteering for Inclusion” (MARVI)

In 2025, Dr. Ouacha serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) and the Institute for Research and Community Engagement (LP2M) at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. In this role, she collaborates academically and in research with Diamantin Rohadatul Aisy, M.A., a faculty member of FEB UIN Jakarta. This collaboration is expected to strengthen UIN Jakarta’s international academic networks while advancing the integration of globally benchmarked scholarship and research.

Publication
  • 2025
    • - "The more one believes, the better one belongs?" - religiosity as part of diasporic and migrant's integration. In: Special Issue: Searching for a Better Life with my Community: migratory trends in religious-based social networks. Religions 16(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030282 (dengan Isanski, J., Kozak, J., Dyczewski, B.)
    • - Special Issue: Searching for a Better Life with my Community: migratory trends in religious-based social networks. Religions 16(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030282 (dengan Isanski, J., Kozak, J., Dyczewski, B.)
    • - Diaspora Nonprofits in an Islamic (faith-based) Nation State: an empirical case study on Morocco. In: Mediterranean Dialogues on Migration. Rudvin, M. and El Ghazouani, D. (eds.). Palermo University Press.
  • 2024
      • - Film Review. The Football Aficionado. Directed by Sharmin Mojtahedzadeh and Paliz Khoshdel. Urbanities - Journal of Urban Etnography. Vol. 14 (2).
      • - Book Review. Claudia Bernardi et al. (eds), Moving Workers. Historical Perspectives on Labour, Coercion and Im/Mobilities. TSEG - The Low Countries Journal of Social and Economic History, 21(2), 181-184. https://doi.org/10.52024/p3de5h19
      • - Diasporic Philanthropy and the Sense of Belonging as an Expression of Diasporic Cultural Identity and Inclusion. Voluntas. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-024-00674-3 (dengan Meijs, L. & Biekart, K.)
      • - Receiving by giving: The examining of cross-border diasporic and bi-cultural philanthropy. [Doctoral Thesis, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam].
  • 2023
    • - (Be)longing to the village: how the earthquake in Morocco reveals the importance of the homeland in diaspora identity. DevISSues, 25 (2), pp. 12-13.
    • - Book review: Şebnem Eroğlu. Poverty and International Migration. A Multi- Site and Intergenerational Perspective. Policy Press, Bristol 2022. International Review of Social History, 68(2), pp. 328-331. doi:10.1017/S0020859023000275
    • - Ethnographic fieldwork and gender issues: dialogues between the Global North and Global South. In: Gomes da Silva. J., Zandoná, J., Soares Brandão, A., Fátima Gasparetto, V. (eds.) (2023). Lugares de fala: direitos, diversidades y afetos (Places of speech: rights, diversity and affects). Pimenta cultural. (dengan Arianna, S., Soares de Almeida. C., Fernando Caje Rodriguez. C., Martinelli. L.)
  • 2022
      • - A Deeper Understanding. In: Story Book – by Global Storytellers.
      • - The value of diasporic cross-border philanthropy and voluntourism. In: Fowler, A, and K. Biekart (eds.) (2022). A Research Agenda for Civil Society, Elgar books. (dengan Van Overbeeke, P. S. M.)
  • 2021
      • - Special issue: Cross-border Philanthropy in the Islamic World: from Western Europe to the Middle East (MENA). Vol. 5:2. (Editor, dengan Meijs, L. C. P. M.)
      • - Diasporic volunteering in cross-national perspective: is faith-based more effective than secular philanthropy? A case of the Netherlands and Morocco. In: M. Ouacha and L. C. P. M. Meijs (Eds.), Special issue: Cross-border Philanthropy in the Islamic World: from Western Europe to the Middle East (MENA). Vol. 5:2. pp. 114-139.
  • 2020
      • - Over de Velden van mijn Hart. In: Sahara Sociëteit.
  • 2018
      • - Aydud in Ait Hdidou – Een Pelgrimage naar Sidi Hmad Oulmaghni. In: ZemZem, Tijdschrift over het Midden-Oosten, Noord-Afrika en Islam.
  • 2017
      • - Changing Homes - A woman's home in Ait Hdidou. University of Amsterdam. (MSc Thesis)
  • 2014
      • - The causes and effects of identity-crises amongst Dutch-Moroccan youngsters in Amsterdam-West and Parisian Banlieu. INHolland University of Applied Sciences. (BSc Thesis).
  • 2012
      • - The similarities and differences between Dutch and Moroccan youngsters identities. Cadi Ayad University, Marrakech, Morocco. (MA Thesis).
  • Publications Under Review for 2025
      • - Semper inter Matrem suam Forever in between the Motherlands - Diaspora and bi-cultural philanthropy from the Dutch-Moroccan community in the Netherlands towards Morocco. The Edward Elgar Publishing.
      • - Mother is the country: an empirical exploration of philanthropy of Romanian migrants and diaspora in the UK and Italy. Voluntary Sector Review. (dengan Comanescu, T.)
      • - The integration do's and don'ts in the settlement of migrants - a comparative perspective of Ukrainian refugees in Poland. International Journal of Migration and Integration. (dengan Isanski, J.)
      • - Searching for a sense of belonging close to home: an empirical exploration of the rise of Western-raised MENA Diaspora professionals in the Gulf. Journal of Gulf Studies. (dengan Nissi, K.)
      • - Language, Migration, and Urbanization in The Intersection (Le Carrefour): Film Review. Urbanities.
      • Cross-border philanthropy as a coping-strategy after dealing with socio-political segregation and racism: diaspora's search for a sense of belonging in the homeland. Voluntas. (dengan Meijs, L. & Biekart, K.)
Contact

📧 Email: ouacha@rsm.nl