Ben was born into a Berber family in a small town in Morocco, the youngest of 11 children. While, for various reasons, some older siblings had to drop out of school early, Ben was an enthusiastic student. A teacher at high school inspired him to take an interest in some of the social issues he noticed around him and this lead him to studying a degree in Sociology.

Ben followed the academic path after graduating, first doing a Masters in Malaysia and then coming to Tasmania to do his Phd and eventually becoming a lecturer. The main focus of his research has been housing, from the slums of Casablanca to the housing crisis in Tasmania and its various causes and consequences.