My research interests surround the politics of contemporary mercantile work and commercial platforms of late capitalism. My current research project focuses on the notable, and at times notorious, presence and work of young Igbo Nigerian merchants in contemporary production and trade sites of everyday goods (i.e. clothes, electronics, building materials) across Africa, the Middle East & Asia. The project examines the global emergence of this mercantile generation from the turbulent petro-state of Nigeria, where Igbos are mercurially stereotyped as a commercially-inclined ethnic group with secessionist aspirations. Through analysis of merchants’ curatorial practices of mass-manufactured commodities, the project is also centrally concerned with questions of the politics of profit and value along contemporary supply chains and trade routes.