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davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
David Wilson
@davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
2.5K followers 670 following 63 posts
Historian working on legal and environmental history within context of colonialism & oceans / lakes, esp. piracy, fishing, & marine science. Current focus: Law, Science, and the British Colonial Fisheries Advisory Committee. Senior Lecturer @ Strathclyde.
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davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
David Wilson @davidwilsonhist.bsky.social · Jan 13
The main publication from our “Lessons from Lake Malawi” project has just been published OA by Marine Policy.

“Without historical awareness, reproduction of one-size-fits-all approaches to fisheries management remains all too common”

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🐠 #envhist #envhum 🐟
Fishing (in) the past to inform the future: Lessons from the histories of fisheries management in Lake Malawi and Mbenji Island
Without historical interrogation of past and present fisheries management, governors and their sponsors often fall into the trap of replicating and re…
www.sciencedirect.com
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
Or you can also join us for our launch event in Blantyre at @DLivingstoneBP on 12 August from 14:30-16:30 where the pop-up exhibition will also be displayed in August and September!

www.scotland-malawipartnership.org/events/lesso...
August 6, 2025 at 7:58 AM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
Join us at the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther and online on 14 August as we launch our pop-up exhibition at the museum based on our Lessons from Lake Malawi projects. 🐠🐟

Co-hosted by the Scotland-Malawi Partnership.

www.scotland-malawipartnership.org/events/lesso...
Lessons from Lake Malawi: Fisheries Governance in the Colonial Era
www.scotland-malawipartnership.org
August 3, 2025 at 7:30 PM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
It was a real privilege to be asked to chat about our OA article on fisheries in Lake Malawi for the JAH podcast 🐟.

Link below — check it out and let me know what you think! 👇
July 27, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by David Wilson
thejah.bsky.social
In our latest #OA #HistoryMatters piece, the team of Milo Gough, Bryson Nkhoma, Elias Chirwa, @davidwilsonhist.bsky.social‬, Charles Knapp, Tracy Morse, and Wapulumuka Mulwafu explore the history of present day #Fisheries management in #LakeMalawi:

bit.ly/4lmkjoT
July 10, 2025 at 6:19 PM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
Our final virtual panel for Problem of Piracy IV is starting in just over an hour —

“Encountering and Policing Piracy”

Feat. four papers covering diverse legal and practical measures to tackle piracy across geographical and temporal bounds.

Register using the link below! 🏴‍☠️
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social David Wilson @davidwilsonhist.bsky.social · Jun 4
🚨🏴‍☠️ Performing, practising, and policing piracy!

The 4th Problem of Piracy conference takes place in Exeter later this month.

But next week we have THREE special virtual panels that are open to all on 12 and 13 June.

Details and registration link via: www.problemofpiracy.com/conference-2025 🏴‍☠️🚨
Information of three virtual panels, details available via Eventbrite using the link in the post.
June 13, 2025 at 2:48 PM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
Two exciting online panels on the history of piracy tomorrow for Problem of Piracy IV:

“Performing Piracy and Power”

and

“Dynamics of Piracy and Privateering”

Registration link in the post below!

All welcome!
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social David Wilson @davidwilsonhist.bsky.social · Jun 4
🚨🏴‍☠️ Performing, practising, and policing piracy!

The 4th Problem of Piracy conference takes place in Exeter later this month.

But next week we have THREE special virtual panels that are open to all on 12 and 13 June.

Details and registration link via: www.problemofpiracy.com/conference-2025 🏴‍☠️🚨
Information of three virtual panels, details available via Eventbrite using the link in the post.
June 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by David Wilson
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
🚨🏴‍☠️ Performing, practising, and policing piracy!

The 4th Problem of Piracy conference takes place in Exeter later this month.

But next week we have THREE special virtual panels that are open to all on 12 and 13 June.

Details and registration link via: www.problemofpiracy.com/conference-2025 🏴‍☠️🚨
Information of three virtual panels, details available via Eventbrite using the link in the post.
June 4, 2025 at 9:13 AM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
🚨🏴‍☠️ Performing, practising, and policing piracy!

The 4th Problem of Piracy conference takes place in Exeter later this month.

But next week we have THREE special virtual panels that are open to all on 12 and 13 June.

Details and registration link via: www.problemofpiracy.com/conference-2025 🏴‍☠️🚨
Information of three virtual panels, details available via Eventbrite using the link in the post.
June 4, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Reposted by David Wilson
roperlou.bsky.social
A new website w/database on the 1680s Scottish migration to East New Jersey is 'live' #earlymodern #VastEarlyAmerica eastjerseybound.scot
Home - East Jersey Bound
Home page: Scots emigrants to East New Jersey in the 1680s: why did they come, who were they and what became of them?
eastjerseybound.scot
June 3, 2025 at 12:03 PM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
An insightful and disquieting article on “Afropolitans and the fantasy of a digital nation” by Milo Gough, one member of the Lessons of Lake Malawi team.

africasacountry.com/2025/05/afro...
Afropolitans and the fantasy of a digital nation
Web3 utopians promised a sovereign future for the African diaspora—but what they delivered was a networking club for elites, wrapped in crypto-libertarian hype and Afro-futurist aesthetics.
africasacountry.com
May 28, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Reposted by David Wilson
mwarsh.bsky.social
My article "Seasonal Harvests: Migration, Reproduction, and Religion in the Early Modern Spanish Tuna Fisheries" is now available online in advance of the July issue of
@envirohistory.bsky.social. The essay reflects years of work and revision; I'm so grateful for the help I got along the way.
May 23, 2025 at 3:52 PM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
‼️🐠 Our short “History Matters” piece — “Colonialism, Governance, and Fisheries: Perspectives from Lake Malawi” just published OA in The Journal of African History!

doi.org/10.1017/S002...

A lengthier piece expanding on fisheries surveys & colonial development in L. Malawi coming soon in Isis… 🐠‼️
Colonialism, Governance, and Fisheries: Perspectives from Lake Malawi | The Journal of African History | Cambridge Core
Colonialism, Governance, and Fisheries: Perspectives from Lake Malawi - Volume 66
doi.org
May 23, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Reposted by David Wilson
drangelasutton.bsky.social
I'm shocked at how little we engage with the extra-geographical features of early modern maps. I mean, LOOK at this one!
The first known map of Barbados, created before scientific cartography took off. Created by Richard Ligon, it lists the plantations around the coastal parts of the island, while the less-explored interior is an explosion of images and symbolism which highlights what Ligon knew and imagined about this space.
May 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by David Wilson
tanjabueltmann.net
My letter to the Prime Minister. #immigration
Slightly amended so I can fit this here: I am writing to you as an immigrant who chose to make the UK my home. As someone who is now also a British citizen. And as a German-born historian who understands where the complete normalisation of the far right can end. I write to say: For shame! I first came to the UK in the 1990s for a visit with my grandmother. Objectively, much was backwards here. No mixer taps in the bathroom; awful ‘bread’; and strings had to be pulled to switch on lights. But however I felt about this, my own string had been pulled: I loved this Cool Britannia. It was quite possibly then that I decided that the UK was to be my home. When I arrived to settle here permanently, I made a choice: to contribute my skills, my knowledge—all I have to offer—to this country rather than another one. I am deeply disgusted by your comment today that immigration has done ‘incalculable damage’ to the country. This is the language of the far right. It is insulting, hateful & will fuel xenophobia. And it is just wrong. Migration is a normal part of the human existence. None of us would be where we are without it. Open your fridge and you will see migration. Immigrants help make the UK tick every single day, whether we clean toilets in our hospitals or provide care for the elderly; whether we empty our bins or carry out cancer research. We are mothers, sons-in-law, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbours and colleagues. I ask you not tell me that you do not mean me. I know that you do not—at least not primarily—mean a white woman from Europe who has a PhD. But who do you mean? And, much more importantly, who do you think those racists who were engaged in riots on our streets last summer think you mean? Anti-immigration narratives have defined UK policymaking for the best part of two decades. And fundamentally so. They were the key driver in delivering Brexit, for example, and, as such, have directly limited the rights and opportunities of British citizens. This obsessive focus on immigration as the ‘problem’—that is the real problem. And it is consistently delivering poor outcomes for the UK. Instead of tackling this, you are choosing to consolidate it, sowing divisions along the way. You may point me to polling and tell me that this is what voters want. Do they? I am not surprised at all that over 50% of voters might say they want to see immigration reduced if that is the question they are being asked. What we need to know is what they would answer to the question: “Would you like to see immigration reduced? What this would mean for you and your local community is XYZ.” That is not how surveys can ask questions, but governments absolutely can choose to make policy using such a more informed position. Prime Minister, you continue to talk a lot about making the tough choices. But let’s be clear: setting immigrants up as the ‘other’, as a scapegoat—describing us as a threat ‘pulling the country apart’, a ‘squalid chapter’, a risk that might make the UK an ‘island of strangers’—these are not tough choices at all. These are the easy choices. They are the choices that populists make who have no solutions to the real problems a country faces. What I would like to know, Prime Minister, is what you will do when your policies lead to the implosion of the UK’s Higher Education sector. What you will tell communities when they can no longer provide any care for the elderly. The policies you announced today will not solve anything at all. They will have exclusively negative impacts. For those immediately affected; for our communities; and for our economy. Being pro-immigration—it is progressive, yes, but the much more crucial point is that it is also the most pro-UK policy approach that any politician in the country can pursue. And you are choosing to do the opposite. This, Prime Minister, is the real damage—and it will be very calculable indeed. Tanja Bueltmann
May 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by David Wilson
stonefishweirs.bsky.social
Today let's celebrate #africanworldheritageday, #Africa is home to all and a dynamic continent with heritage unlike any other! #coastalhistory #Angloa #Zululand #Southafrica #Zimbabwe.
Arial image of Stillbay fish traps South Africa. Sources Goggle Maps. Aerial satellite imagery of the wooden fish traps from the coast Kosi Bay Zululand South Africa. Digital photograph (colour); view of painted rock art on a rock face showing oval-like shape (net?) outlined in red and infilled by red fishes. The shape is surrounded by several human figures and animals, most of them antelopes infilled in red and depicted upright facing right. The human figures are outlined or infilled in red, mostly depicted upright facing right and in some cases with the legs splayed as if running. Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe. Images of river fish weir Cuiva River, Bié Province, Angola
May 5, 2025 at 12:40 PM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
“The Routledge History of the Modern Maritime World since 1500” edited by Kenneth Morgan released last week!

A privilege to be among such esteemed colleagues. It will be an excellent teaching resource too — I’ll certainly be assigning many chapters!

www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/1...
The Routledge History of the Modern Maritime World since 1500 | Kennet
The Routledge History of the Modern Maritime World since 1500 provides a wide-ranging set of chapters, covering the sixteenth century to the present, which
www.taylorfrancis.com
May 5, 2025 at 12:42 PM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
Looking forward to this chapter coming out soon as part of a fantastic volume!

And the @shiftingsovs.bsky.social volume looks fantastic too!!
April 14, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by David Wilson
sgsss.bsky.social
We are live! Our 25 projects across 11 partner institutions are now open for applications!

For more on these positions, visit: www.sgsss.ac.uk/studentships...

We encourage applicants to review our guidance for more on eligibility, the application process, etc: www.sgsss.ac.uk/files/Studen...
March 13, 2025 at 11:17 AM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
Come join @tanjabueltmann.net and I at Strathclyde for a funded PhD on built heritage and Glasgow’s slaving links, centred around Tobacco Merchant’s House.

Excellent ops to engage with heritage industry via co-supervision by Scottish Civic Trust!

Details below!

Any questions - get in touch!
March 13, 2025 at 2:39 PM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
There are certainly worse places to spend a week writing …
March 4, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by David Wilson
navalhistory.bsky.social
Coming soon! Routledge Maritime History of the Modern World. Publication scheduled for May 2025. For those who took Research Skills w/ Cathryn, you'll recognise her chapter. It also includes chapters by @davidwilsonhist.bsky.social and Richard Blakemore among others! #MaritimeHistory #CoastalHistory
A screen grab of the cover. It is light blue, with The Routledge History of he Modern Maritime World since 1500 as the title, with an image of a ship, and 'edited by Kenneth Morgan on the bottom.
February 23, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by David Wilson
eandhwhp.bsky.social
Call for submissions!

Snapshots are short essays which focus on environmental challenges of the 21st century, looking to historical perspectives to inform a more sustainable world.

See the attached call & send a pitch to @tluneau.bsky.social, deputy editor (tyson.luneau@cortland.edu) #envhist
February 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM
davidwilsonhist.bsky.social
In The National Archives to follow up a few references for a chapter — it’s been about 5 years since I last looked at CO records in person… nice wee sojourn and, as ever, pirates popping out the page even when it’s not what I’m looking for …
February 5, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by David Wilson
csschmitt.bsky.social
A wonderful distraction from the world literally burning to the ground: page proofs for The Predatory Sea! 🗃️

Coming to bookstores (if those still exist) in September!
Cover page for new book titled The Predatory Sea: Human Trafficking and Captivity in the Seventeenth-Century Caribbean
January 14, 2025 at 7:43 PM