Dr Stephen Mullen
- Lecturer in History (History)
email:
Stephen.Mullen@glasgow.ac.uk
R. 103, 9 University Gardens, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6768-3051Biography
Stephen Mullen is alumnus of the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow, completing a PhD at the latter institution in 2015. This doctoral thesis examined Scotland’s relationship with Atlantic slavery from c.1775 until emancipation in the British West Indies,1834/8. The main focus was Glasgow’s West India merchants and planters, assessing how slavery-derived merchant and sojourning capital reshaped Scotland. He undertook extended research trips to Caribbean islands Jamaica, Grenada and Trinidad looking for traces of long dead Scotsmen who repatriated West India fortunes which ‘improved’ Scottish regions. His first monograph, The Glasgow Sugar Aristocracy: Scotland and Caribbean Slavery, 1775-1838 (2022) was published by University of London Press in the Royal Historical Society/Institute of Historical Research flagship New Historical Perspectives series.
Stephen’s postdoctoral work focused on the social and economic histories and consequences of chattel slavery in a British-Atlantic framework. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher (2015-17) on the Leverhulme Trust funded project ‘Runaway Slaves in Britain: bondage, freedom and race in the eighteenth century’ (P.I: Simon Newman), which compiled 800 newspaper adverts that aimed to facilitate the recapture of ‘Black runaways’ across many towns and cities in 18th century Great Britain. Stephen was principal researcher and co-author of the report ‘Slavery, Abolition and the University of Glasgow’ (2017-18), which led to the sector-leading Reparative Justice strategy. He has acted as consultant as other British universities develop similar studies.
Stephen has been commissioned by public bodies and private organisations to examine the historical legacies of Atlantic slavery which extend to present day in many British cities and institutions. Between 2019-22, he was commissioned by Glasgow City Council to lead an audit of the city of Glasgow’s historic connections with Atlantic slavery. The ‘Glasgow Slavery Audit’ assessed the city’s slavery legacies in built heritage (especially statues, street names, and buildings), in the process addressing long-term debates how Glasgow should recognise its long historic connections with Atlantic slavery. On 31 March 2022, Glasgow City Council formally apologised for the city’s involvement with transatlantic slavery – the first ever apology of its type on behalf of a Scottish institution or city. Stephen has also undertaken consultations for museums and charities examining the legacies of slavery, such as Birmingham Museums Trust (2020), the Corra Foundation (2023), and North Lanarkshire Council Museums (2024). Alongside Andrew Mackillop and Steve Driscoll, Stephen was Co-Investigator on the Historic Environment Scotland funded project ‘Surveying and Analysing Connections between Properties in Care and the British Empire, c.1600–1997’ (2022-24), which assessed Scotland’s most iconic sites in state care and the legacies of colonialism.
As of 1 August 2023, Stephen is Lecturer in History (Legacies of Atlantic Slavery), a cross-centre appointment between The Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies and the Beniba Centre for Slavery Studies.
Research interests
- West India elites and lower ranks in metropolitan and colonial contexts
- Atlantic slavery, capitalism and Britain’s Industrial Revolutions
- Eric Williams and the historiographical afterlives of Capitalism and Slavery (1944)
- Social and economic history of 18th and 19th century Scotland
- Atlantic slavery and British institutions
Research groups
Grants
Research:
- Hunterian Museum: ‘William Hunter’s Lanarkshire World’ (2024) (Co-P.I)
- North Lanarkshire Council Museum/Museum Galleries Scotland: ‘Decolonising North Lanarkshire Council’s Museums’ (2024) (P.I)
- University of Glasgow Arts and Humanities Research Council Impact Acceleration Account: ‘Teaching Glasgow’s Slavery Past’ (in partnership with Glasgow City Council) (2024) (Co-P.I)
- Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Lapidus Initiative Digital Collections Fellowship: ‘Digitising the Stirling of Keir’s Jamaica Estate Records’ (in partnership with Glasgow City Archives) (2017) (P.I)
- Royal Society of Edinburgh: ‘Scottish adventurers in Trinidad, 1797-1838’ (2016) (P.I)
- Economic and Social Research Council 1+3 PhD Scholarship, The ‘Glasgow West India interest: integration, collaboration and exploitation in the British Atlantic World, 1776-1846’ (2010)
Commercial:
- Corra Foundation: ‘Research into origins of Corra Foundation’s funds’ (2023) (P.I)
- Historic Environment Scotland: ‘Properties in Care and the British Empire’ (2022) (Co-I)
- Glasgow City Council: ‘The City of Glasgow and Transatlantic Slavery, c.1600–1838’ (2019) (P.I)
Supervision
I welcome supervision enquiries on topics related to Atlantic slavery and abolition in the English/Scottish/British Atlantic worlds across the long Eighteenth Century (c.1690-1834/8) as well as the legacies, aftermath and consequences of slavery up to present day. I would also be happy to supervise dissertations on the social and economic histories of 18th and 19th century Scotland. I have research expertise in assessing the legacies of Atlantic slavery in Great Britain up to present day; in institutions (including the University of Glasgow) across cities (such as Glasgow), and the nation broadly. I have researched, advised and consulted how politicians, policy makers, curators, museum professionals and heritage organizations develop strategies to address the history, legacies and representations of slavery in Scottish and British contexts.
Current Doctoral Supervision:
- Scott MacFie, ‘Estate Management and Improvement in South-West Scotland, c.1750-c.1840’ (September 2023)
- Eilidh Finlayson, ‘Gendering Scottish-Atlantic Slavery: female beneficiaries of transatlantic wealth, 1770-1838’ (September 2024)
Teaching
Sub-Honours:
- 1A Scotland’s Millennium: Kingdom, Union and Nation, c. 1000–2014
- 2B Global History
Honours:
- Race and Slavery in the Eighteenth Century British Atlantic World (Convener)
- Remembering Britain's Slavery Past: History, Memory, and Memorialisation (Convener)
Masters:
- MSc/MA Reparative Justice
Additional information
- Economic and Social History Society of Scotland’s Research Essay Prize (2011)
- University of Glasgow’s Engaged Early Career Researcher of the Year Prize (2016)
- Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture: Lapidus Initiative Digital Collections Fellowship (2017)
- Le Mans Université: Visiting Professorship (2022)
- Scottish Historical Review Trust: Trustee (2022)
- History Scotland: Editorial Board (2022)
- Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (2023)