I joined Lund University in 2020 as a PhD student in the Department of History and as part of the Swedish National Graduate School of Historical Studies. My research focuses on global economic networks, European colonialism, and empire-building, with a particular emphasis on the role of family firms in reshaping European and colonial trade and finance systems during the long eighteenth century.

My thesis examines the British-Dutch merchant and banking house Hope & Co., exploring what their bookkeeping and business strategies reveal about their role in integrating European and colonial trade and credit systems between 1740 and 1830. Through this research, I aim to illuminate how family firms like Hope & Co. drove the shift towards more direct forms of imperial rule and exploitation, transforming earlier colonial structures into a more rigid and interdependent imperial order by the late eighteenth century.

My work seeks to deepen our understanding of globalisation, industrial capitalism, and the emergence of new imperial systems by focusing on the “middle agents”—family firms, merchants, and financiers—who played crucial roles in shaping integrated global economic spaces. Rather than viewing colonialism as merely a top-down imposition by European states, I argue that firms like Hope & Co. were instrumental in creating, legitimising, and managing co-dependent colonial systems. These firms connected previously autonomous regions through trade and finance, profoundly reshaping the colonial order.

I first developed an interest in Hope & Co. during my master’s studies, where I examined their business strategies during the credit crisis of 1772–73. Since then, I have contributed to projects investigating the slavery connections of Hope & Co. and R. Mees & Zoonen at the International Institute of Social History. I have also served as book reviews editor for the International Journal of Maritime History and as a project assistant for Linnaeus University's Global Archives Online project.

Beyond my own research, I am actively involved in the Network for Early Modern History, where I co-organise a monthly reading group session. I co-teach two first-year courses that explore topics from prehistory to the Springtime of Nations, as well as a third-year course on global history focusing on the Great Divergence. I also supervise bachelor's students on their dissertations and am particularly keen to support those interested in colonialism and empire, business and state formation, globalisation, and capitalism. However, I warmly welcome inquiries from students pursuing any aspect of early modern social and economic history.

In addition to academic research, I am committed to engaging with public history and collaborative projects that address issues of economic and social sustainability, global inequality and precarity, and the enduring legacies of colonialism. My work contributes to broader discussions about these critical contemporary challenges.

I welcome discussions and collaborations with researchers and students interested in early modern social and economic history, particularly regarding the histories of capitalism, colonialism, and globalisation. If your work intersects with family firms, mercantile or financial networks, or the integration of colonial and European economies—or any related area—I would be delighted to connect!