Dr. Richard Saunders is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics, York University, Toronto, where he teaches African political economy with a research focus on Southern  and East Africa. A specialist on Zimbabwe, his current research investigates the dynamics, trajectory and outcomes of mining policy reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa in the context of a resurgent wave of ‘resource nationalism’ in the mineral-rich countries of the region. A related African research project explores the impact, challenges and opportunities associated with recent Canadian mining regulation reforms for Canadian miners operating in Africa. As with previous research projects which investigated the political economy of alluvial diamond mining in Zimbabwe and contestations over the country’s mining fiscal regime, a key focus of his current research is the participation and impact of non-state domestic actors in the shaping of mining policy’s formulation and implementation. In this context, his work examines the ways in which local miners, businesses, financial institutions, mining labour and mining communities have been both included and marginalized in policy debates, and considers the diverse impacts of local actors’ capacities and interventions on the trajectory of extractives sector reforms.