Marion Breteau

I am a sociocultural anthropologist specializing in migration, emotions and digital media in the Arabian Gulf. I hold a PhD from Aix-Marseille University (2019). I have held positions at Aix-Marseille University, the American University of Kuwait, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen, the Ateneo de Manila University, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, and am an Associate Research Member of the Centre Norbert Elias (CNRS) and the French Research Center of the Arabian Peninsula.

My research spans the anthropology of intimacy and love in the Gulf, developed through long-term fieldwork in Oman and Kuwait; and the digital practices of migrant communities, with a particular focus on TikTok and social media use among foreign domestic workers. My recent work explores how platforms such as TikTok mediate leisure, ethical self-fashioning and creative expression under conditions of legal precarity. I am a member of the TikTok Cultures Research Network and the French CNRS research group on Internet, AI and Society.

I publish in French, English and Arabic. I have contributed to applied research with the ILO and IOM, and collaborate with visual artists and cultural institutions on public-facing projects in France, India and the Philippines.