Mahmoud Keshavarz

Mahmoud Keshavarz is an Associate Professor at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University. His work bridges anthropology, design studies, and border studies, focusing on materiality, technology, and mobility in migration and colonial contexts. He holds a PhD in Interaction Design from Malmö University (2016) and is a Docent (2020) at Uppsala. Previously, he held positions at Malmö University, Linnaeus University, Stockholm University, and the University of Gothenburg.

Research interests include border materialities, decolonial knowledge, and the politics of humanitarian design. Current projects include an ERC-funded study on missing migrants in Europe and a monograph on border situations as designed realities. He co-founded the Decolonizing Design collective and Critical Border Studies network.

Key awards include the Best Dissertation Award at Malmö University (2016–2017). He served as co-editor-in-chief of Design and Culture (2019–2023) and on the Swedish Research Council’s Artistic Research Review Panel (2022–2023). His work spans books, journal articles, and edited volumes, addressing topics like passport materiality, migrant smuggling, and border technologies.