Biography

I completed my PhD research at the University of Cambridge between 2013 and 2016; I previously worked as an archivist and media producer on several public history projects. For my PhD research, I was a visiting scholar at the Sorbonne in 2015 and at the University of Pennsylvania in 2016.
My thesis, titled ‘Towards an independent European energy policy: the oil industry in the aftermath of the Algerian War’, analyses the role of the oil industry in the Algerian decolonization process and subsequent relations with Europe. Both France and the Algerian fighters used the oil industry as a proxy in their diplomatic actions, claiming legitimacy over territorial control through the development of the oil industry. After the war, direct control over oil became for Algeria the symbol of economic independence and international recognition. On the other side of the Mediterranean, France tried to relaunch the concept of “Eurafrica” with the creation of integrated energy networks. Through the case study of Algeria, the thesis reflects on the (post)colonial economic relations between former colonies and Europe, the EEC’s inability to act as a single negotiator, and the ideas of the oil industry as an agent for economic and technical development. A video presentation of a chapter in my thesis is available here.
Overall, I am particularly interested in the study of energy policies, international development and the digital world. Since 2015 I have supervised undergraduate students at the University of Cambridge on World History and on Methodologies of Historical Research. I have also given lectures at the University of Cambridge and Sorbonne on World History, the French and Italian Oil Industry, Industrial Cinema and Digitization Processes.