David Paul Wirtz (2024)

My doctoral research explores the long-term historical and economic trajectories of the tea industry in Kenya’s highlands. I am interested in how the tea sector has shaped social, economic, and environmental landscapes and structures over time. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and archival records, I aim to examine how histories of tea production continue to inform contemporary experiences and narratives among tea pickers, planters, and other stakeholders in the industry. My research pays close attention to everyday experiences and seeks to understand how different people navigate and make sense of their place within these ongoing histories.

Through this project, I hope to contribute to broader debates on labour, land, infrastructure, and the global entanglements of tea production. My doctoral studies are generously supported by the ESRC Cam-DTP studentship and the Cambridge Trust, where I am an Honorary Cambridge Trust International Scholar.

I studied political science and public law in Germany and France, and completed my master’s degree in social anthropology at the University of Oxford. Prior to my PhD, I worked for the United Nations in Nairobi, where I researched the role of voluntary labour in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).