Aaron Jakes

Aaron Jakes is Assistant Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Chicago, specializing in the historical geography of global capitalism, colonial studies, and environmental history. His research examines the political economy of colonial Egypt and the role of political-economic thought in anti-colonial struggles.

Research interests include:

• Financialization in colonial contexts
• British imperial history
• Environmental constraints on economic development
• Global capitalism
• Anti-colonial nationalist movements

His publications analyze the financial boom and crisis in British-occupied Egypt, colonial discourses of economic development, and the emergence of nationalist critiques of imperial political economy. His work combines archival research with theoretical frameworks from political economy to examine how colonial power operated through economic mechanisms.