Abigail Swingen joins Politics, Society, and Culture in Early Modern Britain as series editor

Manchester University press is pleased to welcome Abigail Swingen as series editor of Politics, Society and Culture in Early Modern Britain. This important series publishes volumes that take a fresh and challenging look at the interactions between politics, culture and society in early modern Britain and beyond. We spoke with Abigail about their new role and the future of the series.

Tell us about you and your background…

I am an Associate Professor of Early Modern British and European history at Texas Tech University, where I have taught since 2009. I earned my PhD at the University of Chicago. My research interests include the origins of the British empire, ideas of political economy, and the cultural and political consequences of economic change. My first book, Competing Visions of Empire: Labor, Slavery, and the Origins of the British Atlantic Empire (Yale University Press, 2015), explores how English politics and ideas of political economy influenced the development of African slavery and other forms of coerced labor in England’s West Indies colonies during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It focuses on the political power the Royal African Company had over imperial policy and governance prior to the Revolution of 1688/89, and the consequences of its decline in political influence in the early eighteenth century. My current book, “The Financial Revolution and the Politics of Moral Crisis in Early Modern Britain” focuses on moments of political and cultural crisis from the mid-1600s to the mid-1700s to explore how and why a revolution in finance occurred in early modern Britain and how contemporaries understood and responded to it. It will consider long-term economic, political, and social changes in Britain and its empire that made a revolution in finance possible by the late-seventeenth century and will explore the political and cultural consequences of these changes into the mid-eighteenth century. I argue that changes associated with the Financial Revolution must be understood to be integrally connected to violence, both in terms of the growth of the fiscal-military state and the needs of war, but also in relation to Britain’s imperial conquests and participation in the transatlantic slave trade. The book will analyze the significant role political and social upheaval played in the development of modern financial capitalism in Britain by focusing on popular politics.

What first appealed to you about the series/ how did you get involved with the series?

I have long admired books in the Politics, Society, and Culture in Early Modern Britain series and was honoured when I was asked to join the team of editors. I have always found the scholarship in the series to be outstanding, particularly its focus on breaking down artificial historiographical barriers between political and social history. I am excited to work with the current editors and learn from their expertise and experience.

What about the future of the series are you most excited for?

I am looking forward to working with authors to expand offerings in the series, especially scholarship on the eighteenth-century politics and society, early modern British imperial history and its cultural and political implications, as well as Atlantic history. I am also excited to bring my general interest in the history of popular politics to the series. There is so much exciting and cutting-edge work being done in all of these fields and I am eager to help bring some great titles to the series. I also hope to raise the profile of the series for scholars outside of the UK, particularly in North America.

Want to explore more from the series, find books below or explore the entire series via the Politics, Society, and Culture in Early Modern Britain series page.