Professor Ian Phimister

B.A., D.Phil. (Rhodesia)

Professor of International History

Commonwealth History, The City of London and British overseas investment, 1890-1940

i.phimister@sheffield.ac.uk

+44 (0)114 22 22581
 

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Major Publications

Biography

Ian Phimister joined the Department in September 2001. His research interests lie in the history of nineteenth and twentieth century Africa, and particularly in the overseas interests of the City of London in the same period. He has written or co-authored several books on the economic and social history of Zimbabwe, as well as some 50 articles on aspects of African history and British overseas economic expansion. Professor Phimister has received grants and fellowships from a range of institutions, including Leverhulme Trust, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, the Beit Fund, the University of Pretoria, and the University of Zimbabwe.

Research

Current Research

Ian Phimister's present research encompasses two projects; finance and empire in Southern Africa, 1886-1899; and the life and times of Sir Edmund Davis (1861-1939), a City of London financier and company promoter whose interests spanned the globe.

Research Supervision and Teaching

Professor Phimister teaches nineteenth and twentieth century African history at all levels. He also teaches a general course on Britain's retreat from empire. Enquiries are welcomed from prospective graduate students interested in similar areas and issues.

Current PhD Students

• Kate Law - 'Writing White Women: Gender, Identity and Power in Rhodesia c.1950-1980.'
• Jennifer Pahmeyer - 'Remembering German Colonialism: Namibian Narratives of Genocide, Loss, Exile & Reconstitution.'
• David Patrick - 'Disbelief to Disinterest: Anglo-American Press Responses to The Holocaust, Bosnia and Rwanda.'
• Aldwin Roes - 'State, capital and colonial doctrine: the making of labour policy in the Katanga mining industry, 1900-1914.'

Selected Publications

Books

- Zimbabwe. An Economic and Social History, 1890-1948 (London, 1988).

- Zimbabwe: A History of Manufacturing 1890-1995, with A.S. Mlambo and E.S. Pangeti (University of Zimbabwe Publications, 2000).

Articles and Essays

- 'Empire, Imperialism and the Partition of Africa, in S Akita (ed), Gentlemanly Capitalism, Imperialism and Global History (London 2002), 65-82.

- 'Mining, Engineers and Risk Management: British Overseas Investment, 1894-1914', South African Historical Journal, 2003, v.49, 1-26 (with Jeremy Mouat).

- 'Zimbabwe now: the political economy of crisis and coercion', Historical Materialism, 2004, v.12 (special Africa issue), 355-382 (with Brian Raftopoulos).

- 'Mugabe, Mbeki and the politics of anti-imperialism', Review of African Political Economy, 2004, v.31, 385-400 (with Brian Raftopoulos).

- 'Il deficit democratico dello Zimbabwe: ipocrisia occidentale e complicita africana', Afriche e Orienti, 2006, v.8, 163-193.

- 'Foreign Devils, Finance and Informal Empire: Britain and China c.1900-1912', Modern Asian Studies, 2006, v.40, 737-759.

- 'Corners and company - mongering: Nigerian tin and the City of London, 1909-1912', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 2000, v28, 23-41.

- 'The 1948 General Strike in colonial Zimbabwe', Journal of Historical Sociology, 2000, v13, 289-324.