Daniel Renshaw

My main research focus is on migration, diaspora and identity in Britain and Europe from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day. I am interested in the complex ways in which relationships are formed between minority groups and the host society, and between minority and migrant communities sharing geographical or chronological space. These ideas informed my first book, which examined communal migrant politics in East London before the First World War. I am also interested in the evolution of prejudice and anti-migrant sentiment over the last two centuries, out of which grew my second book on conceptions of repatriation and removal in modern Britain.

My current research examines the complex relationships between British churches (Anglican, Catholic, and Free Church), migration and minority identity in modern Britain, from the Aliens Act of 1905 to the inner-city unrest of the 1980s. I am also interested in how the Gothic horror revival of the fin de siècle reflected attitudes towards identity and difference in Britain and the rest of Europe. This research has led to collaborative work with colleagues in the English Literature department at Reading. 

I would be happy to discuss acting as PhD supervisor for doctoral students working on any aspect of migration history, histories of prejudice, or on the confluences of popular culture (especially Gothic fiction, science fiction, or sensationalist fiction) and identity.