Her work moves between critical research, somatic practice, and writing. She has published on non-participation as refusal, the sonic life of migrant organizations, and geopoetics — the attempt to find language for what borders do to bodies, to cities, and to time.

Alongside her research and artistic practice, Kahina develops and delivers cross-institutional cultural programmes — translating critical ideas into workshops, public discussions, participatory formats, and collaborative frameworks. She is currently developing a practice as an impact producer, connecting research-led cultural projects to the communities and institutions they speak to.

She has held a Marilyn J. Gittell Postdoctoral Fellowship at the CUNY Graduate Center and contributed to commissioned research for the Home Office and Northumbria Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. Her fieldwork spans Northeast England, New York, and the Mediterranean.

She works with organisations and individuals navigating migration policy, systemic harm, and displacement — as a researcher, consultant, and in one-to-one somatic support work (see Somatics).