Josephine Tierney

Dr. Josephine Tierney is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Department of History at The University of Manchester. Her research focuses on global trade networks, material culture, and cross-cultural exchanges in imperial contexts. She examines African agency in global trade through studies of European consumer goods diffusion in Africa (c.1870-1930s), particularly involving companies like Lever Brothers.

Her education includes a PhD from the University of Warwick (2019) titled 'From Design to Consumption: The Export Trade in Printed and Dyed Textiles to British West Africa, c.1870-1914.' She has held fellowships at the Institute of Advanced Study (Warwick) and contributed to projects like the Global Lace initiative with Nottingham City Council. She managed a Liverpool/Unilever collaboration investigating Lever Brothers' plantations in the Solomon Islands and Belgian Congo (2021-2024).

Research interests span colonial material culture, trans-imperial economic networks, and the interplay between design, production, and consumption in global commodity chains. Her work addresses broader themes of globalization, agency, and environmental impact through case studies like palm oil plantations and textile trade.

Notable awards include the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship and an early career fellowship at Warwick's Institute of Advanced Study. Her research contributes to UN SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption) through analysis of historical trade dynamics.

Current projects include a monograph on her doctoral research and ongoing investigations into Lever Brothers' colonial enterprises. She collaborates with the Centre for Economic Cultures and has advised on museum exhibitions related to global trade histories.