Historian of Colonial Empire

With a special focus on France and its colonial empire in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.


I'm interested in the political-economy of colonial empire - the ways that power hierarchies interact with economic life, from local contexts to global ones. My approach has often emphasised the impact of war on economic life, and the ways that people imagine possible economic futures in contexts of crisis.

To date I have worked on imperial economic development in the French League of Nations Mandate in Syria and Lebanon, on the history of Fordism in the post-Ottoman Middle East, and on the global history of colonial commodities and natural resources.

My next project is a global and imperial history of North African phosphate, showing how imperial mineral extraction influenced the emergence of modern global food production regimes. Video presentation of my research.
» Current Projects

I have designed and taught numerous classes at the University of Birmingham, Sciences-Po, the Sorbonne, and the European University Institute, focused on French colonial history, modern France, the Middle East, historical social theory and world history. Video segment of my teaching.
» Teaching

I am an Assistant Professor (Lecturer) in Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Birmingham, where I also direct the Centre for Modern & Contemporary History. From 2014-17 I held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship. I earned a B.A. in Modern History from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. in History from NYU. I have also held Max Weber and Jean Monnet Post-Doctoral Fellowships in History at the European University Institute in Florence.
» Full C.V.