Mohamed Oubenal has a PhD in sociology from Paris-Dauphine University that has been published as a book under the name of « La légitimation des produits financiers: Le réseau de promotion des Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) en France ». His research interests include economic sociology and sociology of culture. During his doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships he studied the process of legitimizing institutions and markets using qualitative methods and social network analysis (see his articles published in: Ecology and Society ; Journal of International Relations and Development ; Gérer et comprendre). He is currently researcher in sociology at Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe (IRCAM) at Rabat (Morocco). His is now studying the transformations of amazigh society (article in Asinag and book chapters) as well as economic elites inside the ERC TARICA (articles in: Critique internationale ; Revue Marocaine des Sciences Politiques et Sociales ; Middle East Development Journal).