Profile

Dr James Fisher
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
7438
01392 727438
I am a historian of early modern Britain, exploring the histories of work, knowledge, freedom, and capitalism.
I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (started Aug 2020) on the project FORMSofLABOUR, led by Prof Jane Whittle and funded by the European Research Council. I am researching work, poverty and freedom in early modern England, with particular reference to pauper/parish apprenticeships (c.1572-1700), examining how poor law provisions interacted with various forms of labour and the labour laws.
I am also preparing my first book for publication, provisionally titled Pen Over Plough: Books, Knowledge and Agrarian Capitalism in Britain 1660-1800, based on previous research into the contrbution of early modern agricultural books to the social division of knowledge and labour.
I was previously Lecturer in Early Modern British Economic and Social History here at Exeter. Before joining Exeter, I taught at King's College London, Royal Holloway, and the University of East London.
Research interests
- Social history of agricultural knowledge
- Early modern 'how-to' books and almanacs
- Agricultural literature
- Rise of agrarian capitalism
- Division of mental and manual labour
- Circulation of farming books & knowledge in the Atlantic World
- Georgic as a literary mode
- 'The Master Should Know More: Book-Farming and the Conflict over Agricultural Knowledge’, Cultural and Social History, 15:3 (2018), 315-331.
- ‘Servants in Rural Europe 1400-1900. Edited by Jane Whittle. Boydell. 2017’, History, 103:358 (2018), 867-70.
- 'Making a Living, Making a Difference: Gender and Work in Early Modern European Society. Ed. Maria Ågren. Oxford University Press. 2017', History, 103:354 (2018), 141-3.
Modules taught
Biography
I completed my PhD in History at King's College London in 2018, supervised by Prof. Arthur Burns and Dr. Alexandra Sapoznik.
I am trained in disciplines across the humanities and sciences. I have an MA in Modern History (King's College London, 2014), an MA in Political Philosophy (University of York, 2008) and a BSc in Physics (2006).