David Clayton
Professor of Modern History

Profile

Biography

BA, PhD (Manchester)

David’s childhood experiences of de-industrialisation and pollution shaped his research in socio-economic and environmental history. After a working-class childhood on the coalfield of North East England, David studied and taught economic history at the University of Manchester, 1987-1996. Since then, he has been employed at the University of York as a lecturer for 11 years, a senior lecturer for 16 years and as a professor since 2023.

In “Hong Kong Documented”, Episode 9, via YouTube, David has re-imagined a childhood of wearing and playing with goods stamped Made in Hong Kong. Might this explain his decision taken in the late 1980s to study Hong Kong? Whatever its origin, his interest in this unusual British colonial possession has led to the publication of 13 articles and chapters on topics such as trademark infringements, labour laws, industrial relations, drought mitigation, bankruptcy, trade diplomacy, commercial public relations and the consumption of radio sets. His Imperialism Revisited also discussed British diplomacy and commercial policies towards Hong Kong.

A childhood bafflement at why Britain was waging war in the South Atlantic in 1982 has led to a life-long fascination with imperial history. Building on a solo-authored article, published by the Economic History Review, he co-published two articles in 2012 with Sue Bowden and Alvaro Pereira on the take-up of radio receiving sets in British colonial dependencies. He was also part of a seven person Leverhulme Trust-funded project on the global history of radio broadcasting which culminated in the pioneering co-written book, The Wireless World, OUP. His current project studies Radio Broadcasting and Decolonisation in the British Empire, 1948-1960: go via the research tab for an outline.

Finally, David has published or co-published articles on Buy British campaigns: for a summary of findings on the ineffectiveness of government campaigns see Economic History Society. This discreet body of work explored how British business used collective marketing campaigns to respond to competition from exporters in China, Hong Kong, Japan and India.

Departmental roles

Convenor, MA Research Training

Research

Projects

David is currently writing a book for the Boydell & Brewer series People, Markets, Goods: Economies and Societies in History. This book, Radio Broadcasting, Decolonization and the British Empire, 1948-1960, explores the origins and effects of an ambitious British project to improve access to radio programmes within colonial dependencies. The book uncovers imperial hubris, and empire-building on the cheap. It tells of ingenious ways by which poor people gained access to the must-have consumer good of the day—the radio receiving set.

David is also continuing with various short and long-lived projects on the socio-economic, political and environmental history of Hong Kong, typically working in collaboration with other experts in the dynamic field of Hong Kong Studies.

Supervision

David has supervised or co-supervised seven PhD research students through to completion. He currently has three jointly-supervised PhD students working on Hong Kong, Chinese and Indian history, all of whom are due to complete in 2025 or 2026.

By all means open up a conversation with him about prospective doctoral study on any aspect of mid to late twentieth-century socio-economic and environmental history.

Teaching

Undergraduate

An example of modules taught:

• HIS00221H Climate (jointly with Henrice Altink)
• HIS00163H, and HIS00164H: Hong Kong: Decolonisation and Development, 1945-97

Postgraduate

An example of modules taught:

• HIS00148M Research Training
• HIS00153M Decolonisation and Development: the British Empire,1945-1964