Professor Alison Bashford
BA (Hons, University Medal) PhD, Syd; MA (Cantab)
Alison Bashford is Scientia Professor in History and Director of the. She also directs the .听Her work听connects the history of science, global history, and environmental history into new assessments of the modern world, from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Her most recent book is An Intimate History of Evolution: The Story of the Huxley Family (Random House, 2022), one of The Economist's top books of 2022, and shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize, 2023. Alison Bashford has recently focused on the geopolitics of world population, presented in two books: The New Worlds of Thomas Robert Malthus: Re-reading the Principle of Population, with听Joyce E. Chaplin (Princeton University Press, 2016) and Global Population: History, Geopolitics and Life on Earth (Columbia University Press, 2014).听Before taking up her Research Chair at 麻豆社madou, Alison Bashford was the Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at the University of Cambridge, Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and Trustee of Royal Museums, Greenwich, UK.听In 2009-10, she was the Whitlam and Fraser Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University鈥檚 Department of the History of Science. Alison Bashford is a Fellow of the British Academy and of the Australian Academy of Humanities. In May 2018, she presented听the听Wiles Lectures at Queen's University, Belfast. Alison Bashford was awarded the Dan David Prize for her contribution to the history of health and medicine in 2021.听
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Alison Bashford is currently Chief Investigator on the following projects
- Australian Research Council, Laureate Fellowship, 2020-26,Population Policy in Modern World History: Challenges from the Asia Pacific
- Australian Research Council Discovery Project, 2021-25, Antipodean Geology: A Modern History of Southern Hemisphere Earth with Alessandro Antonello (Flinders), Pratik Chakrabarti (Manchester), Saul Dubow (Cambridge), Greg Cushman (Kansas)
- Australian Research Council, Strategic Research Initiative, 2020-23, Rethinking Medico-Legal Border Control: From international to internal histories, with Jane McAdam (麻豆社madou Law)
- Australian Research Council Discovery Project, 2019-21, The Huxleys and Global Science
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Shortlist, the Cundill History Prize (2023) for听The听Huxley's
Dan David Prize for the History of Health and Medicine (2021)
The Royal Society of New South Wales Medal for the History of Science (2020)
The Cantemir Prize (2011)
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Books
A. Bashford, (Allen Lane, London, 2022). Published in the US as The Huxleys: An Intimate History of Evolution (University of Chicago Press, 2022).
A. Bashford and J.E. Chaplin, The New Worlds of Thomas Robert Malthus: Re-reading the Principle of Population (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016). Chinese translation forthcoming,听The Commercial Press: Beijing, 2020.
A. Bashford, Global Population: History, Geopolitics, and Life on Earth (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014).
A. Bashford and C. Strange, Griffith Taylor: Visionary, Environmentalist, Explorer (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008).
A. Bashford, Imperial Hygiene: A Critical History of Colonialism, Nationalism and Public Health (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004). Second edn. 2014.
A. Bashford, Purity and Pollution: Gender, Embodiment and Victorian Medicine (London: Macmillan, 1998).
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Books Edited
A. Bashford, E. M. Kern and A. Bobbette (Des),(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2023).
D. Armitage, A. Bashford, S. Sivasundaram (eds), Oceanic Histories (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017).听
A. Bashford, Quarantine: Local and Global Histories (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2016)
D. Armitage and A. Bashford, Pacific Histories: Ocean, Land, People (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2014).
A. Bashford and S. Macintyre, The Cambridge History of Australia, 2 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013).
A. Bashford and P. Levine, The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
A. Bashford, Medicine at the Border: Disease, Globalization and Security from 1850 to the Present (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2006). Second edn. 2014.
A. Bashford and C. Strange, Isolation: Places and Practices of Exclusion (London: Routledge, 2003).
A. Bashford and C. Hooker, Contagion: Historical and Cultural Studies (London: Routledge, 2001). Second edition: Contagion: Epidemics, history and culture from smallpox to anthrax (Sydney: Pluto Press, 2003).
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Special Issues
A. Bashford, S. Fennell, D. Kelly (eds), 鈥楳althusian Moments鈥, The Historical Journal, Inaugural Special Issue. 2019 online.
A. Bashford and S.W. Tracy (eds), 鈥楳odern Airs, Waters, and Places.鈥 Bulletin of the History of Medicine. Special issue: 86, 4, Winter 2012.
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Articles and review essays
A. Bashford, 'The Disenchantment of Chiromancy: Reading Modern Hands from Palmistry to Genetics',听Past & Present, 2023 (online advance).
A.Bashford, 'Malthus and Gender',听Australian Economic History Review, 62, 3 (2022): 198-210.
C.C. Huang and听A.Bashford, 'Vaccine Requirements Predate the听COVID Pandemic by More than a Century',听Migration Policy,听6 April 2022.
A.Bashford,听 P. Chakrabarti, J. Hore, 'Towards a Modern History of Gondwanaland',听Journal of the British Academy听9(s1) (2021)
A. Bashford,听听'World History and the Tasman Sea',听American Historical Review,听126, 3 (2021): 922-948;
A. Bashford, 鈥楾he Family of Man: Cosmopolitanism and the Huxleys鈥, Humanity (2021). Special issue 鈥楥osmopolitanism鈥 ed. Valeska Huber.
A. Bashford, 鈥楳althus and China鈥, The Historical Journal (2019): 1-27 online.
A.Bashford, D. Kelly, S. Fennell, 鈥楳althusian Moments: Introduction鈥, The Historical Journal (2019): 1-13 online.
A. Bashford, 鈥楧eep Genetics: Universal History & the Species鈥, History and Theory, 57, 2 (2018): 313-22.
A. Bashford, 鈥楾erraqueous Histories鈥, The Historical Journal, 60, 1 (2017): 1鈥20.
A. Bashford, P. Hobbins, A. Clarke, U. Frederick, 鈥楪eographies of Commemoration: Angel Island, San Francisco and North Head, Sydney鈥, Journal of Historical Geography, 52 (2016): 15鈥25.
A. Bashford, 鈥楤ioscapes: Gendering the Global History of Medicine鈥, Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 89 (2015): 690鈥95.
A. Bashford and P. Hobbins, 鈥楻ethinking Quarantine: Pacific History at Australia鈥檚 Edge鈥, Australian Historical Studies, 46, 3 (2015): 392鈥409.
A. Bashford and J. McAdam, 鈥楾he Right to Asylum: The 1905 Aliens Act and the Evolution of Refugee Law,鈥 Law and History Review, 32, 2 (2014): 309鈥50.
A. Bashford, 鈥業mmigration Restriction: Rethinking Period and Place from Settler Colonies to Postcolonial Nations鈥, Journal of Global History, 9, 1 (2014): 26鈥48.
A. Bashford, 鈥楾he Anthropocene is Modern History: Reflections on Climate and Australian Deep Time,鈥 Australian Historical Studies, 44 (2013): 341鈥49.
A. Bashford, 鈥楢nti-Colonial Climates: Physiology, Ecology, and Global Population, 1920s鈥50s鈥, Bulletin of the History of Medicine 86 (2012): 595鈥626.
A. Bashford and C. Gilchrist, 鈥楾he Colonial History of the 1905 Aliens Act鈥, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 40 (2012): 409鈥37.
A. Bashford, 鈥楳althus and Colonial History鈥, Journal of Australian Studies, 36 (2012): 99鈥110.
A. Bashford, 鈥Living with Tuberculosis: The Prehistory of HIV/AIDS鈥, The Lancet, 375, no. 9728 (2010): 1774颅鈥75.
A. Bashford, 鈥楶opulation, Geopolitics and International Organizations in the Mid Twentieth Century鈥, Journal of World History, 19 (2008): 327鈥47. Translated and republished. 鈥楶opula莽茫o, Geopolitica e organiza莽oes internacionais em meados do s茅culo XX鈥, Miguel Bandeira Jer贸nimo, Jos茅 Pedro Monteiro (orgs), Os Passados do Presente. Internacionalismo, imperialismo e a constru莽茫o do mundo contempor芒neo (Almedina: Coimbra, 2015), 271鈥94.
A. Bashford, 鈥榃orld Population, World Health and Security: 20th century trends鈥, Journal of Epidemiology and Population Health, 62 (2008): 187鈥90.
A. Bashford, 鈥榃orld Population and Australian Land: Demography and Sovereignty in the Twentieth Century鈥, Australian Historical Studies, 130 (2007): 211鈥27.
A. Bashford, 鈥楴ation, Empire, Globe: The Spaces of Population Debate in the Interwar Years鈥, Comparative Studies in Society and History, 49 (2007): 170鈥201.
A. Bashford and C. Strange, 鈥楾hinking Historically about Public Health鈥, Medical Humanities 33 (2007): 87鈥92.
A. Bashford, 鈥楪lobal Biopolitics and the History of World Health鈥, History of the Human Sciences, 19 (2006): 67鈥88.
A. Bashford and J. Welshman, 鈥楾uberculosis, Migration, and Medical examination: Lessons from History鈥, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 60 (2006): 282鈥84.
A. Bashford and B. Power, 鈥業mmigration and Health: Law and Regulation in Australia, 1958-2004鈥, Health and History, 7, no. 1 (2005): 86-101.
A. Bashford and S. Howard, 鈥業mmigration and Health: Law and Regulation in Australia, 1901-1958鈥, Health and History, 6, no. 1, (2004): 97-112.
A. Bashford and C. Strange, 鈥楶ublic Pedagogy: Sex Education and Mass Communication in the Mid Twentieth Century鈥, Journal of the History of Sexuality, 13 (2004): 71鈥99.
A. Bashford, 鈥楢t the Border: Contagion, Immigration, Nation鈥, Australian Historical Studies, 120 (2002): 344鈥58.
A. Bashford, 鈥楾uberculosis and Economy: Public Health and Labour in the Early Welfare State鈥, Health and History, 4, no. 2 (2002): 19鈥40.
A. Bashford and C. Hooker, 鈥楧iphtheria and Australian Public Health: Bacteriology and its Complex Applications, 1890-1930鈥, Medical History, 46 (2002): 41鈥64.
A. Bashford and C. Strange, 鈥楢sylum-seekers and National Histories of Detention鈥, Australian Journal of Politics and History, 48 (2002): 509-27.
A. Bashford, 鈥楧omestic Scientists: The Negotiation of Science and Gender in Early Twentieth Century Nursing鈥, Journal of Women鈥檚 History, 12 (2000): 127鈥46.
A. Bashford, 鈥 鈥淚s White Australia Possible?鈥 race, colonialism and tropical medicine in the early twentieth century鈥, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 23 (2000): 112鈥35.
A. Bashford, 鈥楨pidemic and Governmentality: Smallpox in Sydney, 1881鈥, Critical Public Health, 12 (1999): 301鈥16.
A. Bashford, 鈥楺uarantine and the Imagining of the Australian Nation鈥, Health, 2 (1998): 387鈥402.
A. Bashford, 鈥楩emale Bodies at Work: Gender and the Re-forming of Colonial Hospitals鈥, Australian Cultural History, 13 (1994): 65鈥81.
A. Bashford, 鈥楩rances Gillam Holden and the Children鈥檚 Hospital Dispute, 1887: Woman鈥檚 Sphere, Feminism and Nursing鈥, Women鈥檚 History Review, 2 (1993): 319鈥30.
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Chapters
A. Bashford, 鈥Empire in Oceania: Knowing the Sea of Islands鈥 in Islands and the British Empire in the Age of Sail, Douglas Hamilton and John Macaleer (eds). (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
A. Bashford, 鈥楶opulation Planning for a Global Middle Class鈥 in Christof Dejung, J眉rgen Osterhammel, David Motadel (eds), The Global Bourgeoisie:鈥The Rise of the Middle Classes in the Age of Empire (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019), 85鈥101.
A. Bashford, 鈥榃orld Population from Eugenics to Climate Change鈥 in Nick Hopwood, Rebecca Flemming and Lauren Kassell (eds), Reproduction: From Antiquity to the Present Day (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018), 505鈥520.
A. Bashford, 鈥The Pacific Ocean鈥 in David Armitage, Alison Bashford and Sujit Sivasundaram (eds), Oceanic Histories (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017), 62鈥84.
A. Bashford, 鈥楬istory of Public Health during Colonialism鈥 in S.R. Quah and W.C. Cockerham (eds.) The International Encyclopedia of Public Health, 2nd edition, vol. 4, (Oxford: Academic Press, 2017), 13鈥18.
A. Bashford, 鈥楳aritime Quarantine: Linking old world and new world histories鈥, in Alison Bashford (ed.), Quarantine: local and global histories (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2016), 1鈥14.
A. Bashford and J.E. Chaplin, 鈥楳althus and the new world鈥 in Robert J. Mayhew (ed.), New Perspectives on Malthus (Cambridge University Press, 2016), 105鈥127.
A. Bashford, 鈥楶opulation Politics since 1750鈥 in Kenneth Pomeranz and John McNeill (eds), The Cambridge World History, vol. 7 (Cambridge University Press, 2015), 212鈥236.
A. Bashford, 鈥楶anic鈥檚 Past and Global Futures鈥 in Robert Peckham (ed.), Empires of Panic: Epidemics and Colonial Anxieties (Hong Kong University Press, 2014).
A. Bashford, 鈥楪eorge Knibbs鈥, in Libby Robin, Sverker S酶rlin, and Paul Warde (eds), The Future of Nature: Documents of Global Change (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013).
A. Bashford, 鈥業nsanity and Immigration Restriction鈥 in Catherine Cox and Hilary Marland (eds) Migration, Health, and Ethnicity in the Modern World (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2013), 14鈥35.
A. Bashford and P. Hobbins, 鈥楽cience and Medicine in Twentieth Century Australia鈥, in Alison Bashford and Stuart Macintyre (eds) Cambridge History of Australia vol. 2 (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 263鈥83.
A. Bashford, 鈥楯ulian Huxley鈥檚 Transhumanism鈥, in Marius Turda (eds) Crafting Humans: from genesis to eugenics and beyond (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2013), 153鈥68.
A. Bashford, 鈥楰arl Haushofer鈥檚 Geopolitics of the Pacific Ocean鈥, in Kate Fullager (ed.) The Atlantic World in a Pacific Field: Effects and Transformation since the Eighteenth Century (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars鈥 Press, 2012), 120鈥43.
A. Bashford, 鈥楾he Great White Plague Turns Alien: tuberculosis and immigration in Australia 1901-2001鈥 in M. Worboys and F. Condrau (eds), Tuberculosis Then and Now: Perspectives on the History of an Infectious Disease (Montreal: McGill Queens University Press, 2010), 100鈥122.
A. Bashford, 鈥業nternationalism, Cosmopolitanism, and Eugenics鈥 in A. Bashford and P. Levine (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 154鈥72.
A. Bashford, 鈥榃here Did Eugenics Go?鈥 in A. Bashford and P. Levine (eds) The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 539鈥58.
A. Bashford, 鈥楢ustralasia and Oceania鈥 in H. Cook, A. Hardy and S. Bhattacharya (eds), History and the Social Determinants of Health (Delhi: Orient Longman, 2008), 9鈥26.
A. Bashford, 鈥楾he Age of Universal Contagion: history, disease and globalization鈥 in A. Bashford (ed.) Medicine at the Border: Disease, Globalization and Security (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2006), 1-19.
A. Bashford, I. Convery and J. Welshman, 鈥榃here is the Border? Tuberculosis Screening in Australia and the UK 1950-2000鈥 in A. Bashford (ed.) Medicine at the Border: Disease, globalization and security, (Basingstoke: Palgrave), 97-115.
A. Bashford, 鈥楪ender, Medicine and Empire鈥 in Philippa Levine (ed.) Gender and Empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 112鈥33.
A. Bashford, 鈥楥ultures of Confinement: tuberculosis, isolation and the sanatorium鈥 in C. Strange and A. Bashford (eds) Isolation: places and practices of exclusion, (London: Routledge, 2003), 133鈥50.
A. Bashford and C. Strange. 鈥業solation and exclusion in the Modern World: an Introductory Essay鈥 in C. Strange and A. Bashford (eds) Isolation: places and practices of exclusion, (Routledge, 2003), 1鈥20.
A. Bashford and C. Hooker, 鈥楧isinfecting Mail 鈥 from smallpox to anthrax鈥 in A. Bashford and C. Hooker (eds) Contagion: Epidemics, history and culture from smallpox to anthrax, (Pluto Press, 2003), 226鈥31.
A. Bashford, 鈥楩oreign Bodies: vaccination, contagion and colonialism in the nineteenth century鈥 in A. Bashford and C. Hooker (eds) Contagion: Historical and Cultural Studies (London: Routledge, 2001), 39鈥60.
A. Bashford and M. Nugent, 鈥楲eprosy and the Management of Race and Sexuality鈥 in A. Bashford and C. Hooker (eds) Contagion (London: Routledge, 2001), 106鈥28.
A. Bashford, 鈥楽eparatist Health: Meanings of Women鈥檚 Hospitals, c. 1870-1930鈥 in L. R. Furst (ed.), Climbing a Long Hill: Women Healers and Physicians (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1997), 198鈥220.
Comments and Roundtables
A.Bashford, 听鈥楶andemic Narratives and the Historian鈥, Los Angeles Review of Books,听18 May 2020.
A.Bashford, 鈥楤eyond Quarantine Critique鈥, Somatosphere,听6 March 2020.
A. Bashford, 鈥極n nations and states: a reflection on 鈥楾hinking the Empire Whole鈥, History Australia. 2019. .
C. Otter, A. Bashford, J.L. Brooke, F.A. Jonsson, J.M. Kelly, 鈥楾he Anthropocene in British History,鈥 Journal of British Studies 57(2018): 1鈥29.
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