Germany, Namibia, and the Global Diamond Market, 1884-present

Steven Press is Assistant Professor of History at Stanford University. He is also an affiliated member of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, the Center for African Studies, and the Stanford Center for Law and History. He  graduated with a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and an A.M. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.  His research interests include European sovereignty, international relations, and commodity networks. Press's  first book, Rogue Empires: Contracts and Conmen in Europe's Scramble for Africa (published Spring 2017 with Harvard University Press), received the American Historical Association's Pacific Coast Branch Book Award. Rogue Empires draws on archival work in ten countries and three languages. It offers a new approach to understanding European colonialism in Africa by examining one of its pivotal projects: empires run by companies and individual adventurers. His second book, Blood and Diamonds: Germany's Imperial Ambitions in Africa, appeared in April 2021 with Harvard University Press.

This event is part of Africa Research Workshop Series sponsored by the History Department. Registration is required at this link.