Simon Rakei

Research Interests

International political economy • Legal History • History of Political Thought • Anthropology of Finance • Legal and Economic Anthropology • Modern Formation of Offshore Finance in the Caribbean •  Pricing Valuation of Mineral Extractives in Southern Africa.

Affiliaitions

• Department of History
• Program in Race, Law, and History - University of Michigan Law School

Areas of Study

I study the modern formation of offshore finance in the Caribbean and the pricing valuation of mineral extractives in Southern Africa. I explore this Africa-Caribbean connection to historicise and theorise international political economy and the global production of modernity.

I was trained in Financial Accounting and Taxation, and I was signed with Ernst and Young in South Africa. Thereafter I worked with unions and social movements which were a part of the Economic Justice Network in Southern Africa tackling profit shifting, and I led research and campaigns on corporate mining taxation. Simultaneously, I enrolled for my MA in Sociology and I wrote my master's dissertation on non-sovereign tax havens in the Caribbean through a developmental history of the British Virgin Islands. 

I am currently undertaking my doctoral training at the University of Michigan where I am a joint Ph.D. student in the history and anthropology departments. My dissertation locates the advent of extractive mining in colonial Southern Africa at the turn of the 19th century with the global formations of offshore finance which characterise non-sovereign tax havens in the Caribbean. You may refer to my curriculum vitae to learn about my professional work and research experience, or feel free to visit my personal website to read about my background and interests.