Hernan MondaniResearcher, Docent in Sociology
About me
I am a docent in sociology with a PhD from Stockholm University. I am a researcher at Stockholm University and the Institute for Futures Studies, and Associate professor (universitetslektor) at the School of Police Studies, Södertörn
University, Sweden. I have a background in engineering physics and a research interest in modelling social phenomena using large-scale datasets and non-traditional quantitative methods. My research is mainly concerned with social cohesion, how societies maintain it and how it is challenged. I address these questions through social network models of organizing processes, particularly applied to the dynamics of criminal organizing and collaboration. I also use life-course trajectory analysis to study migrant integration and neighbourhood segregation dynamics in Sweden.
Teaching
Courses
- Sociological Perspectives on Organization and Leadership - 7.5 ECTS (second cycle, English)
Supervision
- Bachelor's thesis in sociology - 15 ECTS (first cycle, Swedish)
- Master's thesis in sociology - 30 ECTS (second cycle, English)
See CV to the right for historial.
Research
Research areas: MOD-Models of organizational dynamics, OCE-Social organizing of crime and extremism, LTA-Life-course trajectory analysis, ND-Neighbourhood dynamics, SP-Sociophysics, MSS-Models in the social sciences.
Ongoing research projects
4C – The Swedish Consortium for the study of Contemporary Criminal Collaboration (Swedish Research Council, VR) [2024–2029]
Family policies and Migrant integration: understanding parental leave and childhood education and care use and their consequences among migrants in Sweden (FORTE) [2023–2026]
The Neighborhood Revisited: Spatial polarization and social cohesion in contemporary Sweden (The Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences, RJ) [2019–2024]
Publications
Peer-reviewed articles
19. OCE. Sarnecki J, Beckley AL, Wikman S, Westfelt L, Lilja M, Mondani H, Bäcklin E and Rostami A (2025) Changes in Immigrant Population Prevalence and High Violent Crime Rates in Swedish Municipalities. Journal of International Migration and Integration 1–21
18. OCE. Dawson LL, Rostami A, Mondani H, Harris-Hogan S and Amarasingam A (2025) A Comparative Analysis of Canadian and Swedish Foreign Fighters. Behavioral sciences of terrorism and political aggression 17(2): 141–163
17. OCE. Rostami A, Mondani H, Carlsson C, Sarnecki J, Edling C and Sturup J (2024) Lone threats: a register-based study of Swedish lone actors. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 48(1): 75–94
16. ND. Vogiazides L and Mondani H (2023) Neighbourhood trajectories in Stockholm: Investigating the role of mobility and in situ change. Applied Geography 150: 102823
15. OCE. Mondani H and Rostami A (2022) Criminal nomads: The role of multiple memberships in the criminal collaboration network between Hells Angels MC and Bandidos MC. Global Crime 23(2): 193–215
14. MSS. Mondani H and Swedberg R (2022) What is a social pattern? Rethinking a central social science term. Theory and Society 51(4): 543–564
13. OCE. Mondani H and Rostami A (2022) Uncovering the degree of criminal organization: Swedish street gangs and the role of mobility and co-offending networks. Social Science Research 103: 102657
12. LTA. Vogiazides L and Mondani H (2021) Geographical trajectories of refugees in Sweden: Uncovering patterns and drivers of inter-regional (im)mobility. Journal of Refugee Studies 34(3): 3065–3090
11. OCE. Rostami A, Sturup J, Mondani H, Thevselius P, Sarnecki J and Edling C (2020) The Swedish Mujahideen: An exploratory study of 41 Swedish foreign fighters deceased in Iraq and Syria. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 43(5): 382–395
10. LTA. Vogiazides L and Mondani H (2020) A geographical path to integration? Exploring the interplay between regional context and labour market integration among refugees in Sweden. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 46(1): 23–45
9. OCE. Carlsson C, Rostami A, Mondani H, Sturup J, Sarnecki J and Edling C (2020) A Life-Course Analysis of Engagement in Violent Extremist Groups. The British Journal of Criminology 60(1): 74–92
8. OCE. Sturup J, Rostami A, Mondani H, Gerell M, Sarnecki J and Edling C (2019) Increased gun violence among young males in Sweden: A descriptive national survey and international comparison. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 25(4): 365–378
7. MOD. Mondani H (2019) Sector, industry and inter-organizational movement statistics in the Stockholm Region: Informing organizational growth models. Quality & Quantity 53(2): 735–755
6. OCE. Rostami A and Mondani H (2019) Organizing on two wheels: uncovering the organizational patterns of Hells Angels in Sweden. Trends in Organized Crime 22(1): 34–50
5. OCE. Rostami A, Mondani H, Liljeros F and Edling C (2018) Criminal organizing applying the theory of partial organization to four cases of organized crime. Trends in Organized Crime 21(4): 315–342
4. MOD. Mondani H (2018) The underlying geometry of organizational dynamics. Similarity-based social space and labor flow network communities. Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory 24(3): 378–400
3. MOD. Mondani H (2017) The evolving network of labor flows in the Stockholm Region: Sector dynamics, connectivity and stability. Applied Network Science 2(1): 34
2. OCE. Rostami A and Mondani H (2015) The complexity of crime network data: A case study of its consequences for crime control and the study of networks. PLoS ONE 10(3): e0119309
1. MOD. Mondani H, Holme P and Liljeros F (2014) Fat-Tailed Fluctuations in the Size of Organizations: The Role of Social Influence. PLoS ONE 9(7): e100527
Book chapters
3. OCE. Mondani H (2024) Women in Violent Far-Left Extremism in Sweden: Positions and Roles. In A Rostami A and Edling C (Eds.) Violent Extremism: A Nordic Outlook. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books
2. OCE. Mondani H and Rostami A (2023) Criminal nomads: The role of multiple memberships in the criminal collaboration network between Hells Angels MC and Bandidos MC. In D Décary-Hétu and R Boivin (Eds.) The Criminology of Carlo Morselli – Part II. Routledge. Reprint
1. OCE. Mondani H and Rostami A (2022) Samarbete i brott: Organiserad brottslighet i Sverige 1995–2015. In A Rostami and J Sarnecki (Eds.) Det svenska tillståndet: En antologi om brottsutvecklingen i Sverige. Lund: Studentlitteratur
Commissioned reports
3. OCE. Rostami A and Mondani H (2024) Kriminella entreprenörer – en studie av den organiserade brottslighetens kopplingar till näringslivet. Stockholm: Stockholm Chamber of Commerce
2. OCE. Mondani H and Rostami A (2023) Kriminella på kartan – en ESO-rapport om den organiserade brottslighetens geografi. Rapport till Expertgruppen för studier i offentlig ekonomi 2023:3. Stockholm: Expert Group on Public Economics (ESO)
1. OCE. Mondani H, Rostami A, Askanius T, Sarnecki J and Edling C (2021) Women in violent extremism in Sweden. TemaNord 2021:513. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers
Research reports
1. OCE. Rostami A, Mondani H, Carlsson C, Sturup J, Sarnecki J and Edling C (2018) Våldsbejakande extremism och organiserad brottslighet i Sverige. Research report 2018/4. Stockholm: Institute for Futures Studies
Policy documents
1. OCE. Mondani H, Askanius T and Rostami A (2023) Country Chapters: Sweden. In A Ritzmann (Ed.) Transnational linkages between violent right-wing extremism, terrorism and organized crime. Berlin: Counter Extremism Project (CEP)
Theses
3. MOD. Doctoral thesis in sociology. Mondani H (2017) Modeling Organizational Dynamics: Distributions, Networks, Sequences and Mechanisms. Stockholm Studies in Sociology, New Series 67, Stockholm: Stockholm University
2. SP. M.Sc. thesis in engineering physics.. Mondani H (2012) Statistical Mechanics of Organizational Growth Process. Trita-FYS 2012:33, Stockholm: KTH Theoretical Physics
1. SP. Thesis in industrial engineering. Mondani H (2008) Aplicaciones de Mecánica Estadística al Problema del Viajante de Comercio. Buenos Aires: UCA School of Engineering
Other scientific publications
1. OCE. Dawson LL, Rostami A, Mondani H (2025) Violent extremism in the hinterland of the `War on Terror´: comparative studies of Canada and Sweden. Behavioral sciences of terrorism and political aggression 17(2): 131–140
Research projects
I make models about how social order is created, maintained and challenged.