Jane Lydon

Jane Lydon’s research centres upon Australia’s colonial past and its legacies in the present. In particular, she is concerned with the history of Australia’s engagement with anti-slavery, humanitarianism, and ultimately human rights. She is is a white settler scholar who aims to carry out politically located research that respects Indigenous sovereignty. Her work has contributed to decolonizing heritage and academic practice, with a strong impact on debates regarding colonialism and Australian legacies of imperialism and slavery. Her most recent books include Imperial Emotions: The Politics of Empathy across the British Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2020) which examines the role of the compassionate emotions in creating relationships spanning the globe, and Anti-slavery and Australia: No Slavery in a Free Land? (Routledge, 2021), which explores the anti-slavery movement in imperial scope, arguing that colonization in Australasia facilitated emancipation in the Caribbean, even as abolition powerfully shaped the Settler Revolution. She currently leads the ARC-funded research project ‘Australian Legacies of British Slavery: Capital, Land and Labour’, with Zoë Laidlaw, Catherine Hall, Keith McClelland, Alan Lester, Edmond Smith, Elizabeth Anya-Petrivna and Kiera Lindsay (DP240101389, 2024-2026). She has authored seven books, and edited a further fifteen collections (including journal special issues).

Anti-slavery and Australia: No Slavery in a Free Land?

*Short-listed, Paul E. Lovejoy Prize ‘for excellence and originality in a major work on any theme related to global slavery’.

‘presents an argument that is both nuanced and contextualised. This includes the centrality of unfree labour of various types to capitalist development (and the complex shifts over time) within a wider context of legal subordination of all types of labour. … should be widely read’ – Catherine Hall, Australian Historical Studies.

'In her wonderful book… Lydon takes a transnational approach to cover a rich and wide geographical terrain, enveloping the Australian colonies in an analysis that stretches from Britain, South America, and the Caribbean to Africa, India, and the Indian and Pacific oceans.’ – Clare Anderson, Journal of British Studies. 

Imperial Emotions: The Politics of Empathy across the British Empire:

‘erudite and richly researched … arguably the strongest claim made yet in empire history for the material work of emotion in the making (and the limits) of British imperial power. … an exemplar of the form’ - Antoinette Burton, Aboriginal History

‘masterly and thoughtful. Rigorously researched and beautifully written, Imperial Emotions delivers a balanced historical appraisal of the benefits and limits of feeling for others.' - Sharon Crozier-De Rosa, History Australia

'Imperial Emotions contributes profoundly to our understanding of the British colonial world, and of Australia’s place within it, demonstrating how even empathy was made subject to white supremacy.’ – Alan Lester, The American Historical Review

Winner of the 2025 Australian Historical Association Biennial Patricia Grimshaw Award for Best Article published in Australian Historical Studies, awarded biennially to highlight excellence in an article that makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Australian history. For: ‘One People? A Visual Language of Australian Citizenship’, Australian Historical Studies, 54:2, 274-298.

‘Everyday Heritage and Difficult Legacies’ Conference, Masterclass and Heritage Workshop, Perth, 28-29 November 2024. To find out more about the concept of ‘everyday heritage’ see our new open access article here!

People Australia, ‘Legacies of Slavery project’. This project aims to add biographies of people who had links to British slavery to People Australia. It forms part of a research program aiming to examine the importance of the legacies of British slavery for the colonisation of Australia.

Exhibition, Chains of Empire, The Australian National Maritime Museum. The exhibition explores Australia's historical connections to the Atlantic slave trade and examines the enduring impact of British slavery on the nation's development. Developed in collaboration with Edith Cowan University, the University of Melbourne, and UNSW, and with guidance from First Nations communities, Chains of Empire reveals the complex legacies of British slavery across Australia. The exhibition is based on the research produced by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project, ‘Western Australian Legacies of British Slavery’.

Coordinator : 

• Looking for Australia (HIST2015)

• Who do we think we are? Doing Family History (HIST2021)

• From Slavery to Settler Colonialism: Labour, Land and Profit (HIST4102)

Cultural history of human rights, humanitarianism and empire

Australian Legacies of British Slavery

Australian colonial visual cultures

Heritage: the colonial past in the present

CURRENT

(CI) ‘Australian Legacies of British Slavery: Capital, Land and Labour.’ (with Laidlaw, Z., Hall, C., McClelland, K., Lester, A., Smith, E., Lindsey, K., Shiell, A.) (DP240101389)

(CI) ‘From Abolition to Settler Colonization: The Papers of Henry George Grey and John George Lambton’. Research Collaboration Award with the University of Melbourne and Durham University, Durham University Library Archives & Special Collections.

(CI) Everyday Heritage (with Ireland, T., Sherratt, T., Lydon, J., & Bagnall, K.) (LP200301446)

Australian Studies Research Network – convenor. This research network brings together scholars across UWA Schools who investigate Australian questions and identities from diverse perspectives; the Australian Studies network fosters research activities and outcomes in publications, HDR training, collaboration, grant income, community engagement and social impact, and scholarly symposia.

Advisory Board: Two Centuries of Chinese Heritage in Western Australia. The project is led by A/Prof Yu Tao and Prof Ben Smith and will showcase Chinese heritage in Western Australia through a digital portal, podcast, illustrated collection of stories and touring exhibition. 

History Council of Western Australia, Committee 2024-2027

Western Australian Working Party, Australian Dictionary of Biography

Editorial Board, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

Editorial Board, Journal of Australian Studies

Editorial Board, Labour History

Editorial Board, History of Photography

Editorial Board, The New Zealand Journal of History 

Board, Centre for Western Australian History