Research areas
Historical geography; history and philosophy of geography; colonial and postcolonial geographies; decolonial and subaltern investigation; archival and global-comparative methods.
Member of the School's Gossip research group
Co-editor (2015-2021) The Scottish Geographical Journal
Dan's research and teaching is broadly in the area of historical geography, and with a core interest in geography 'in the round', and how the discipline aspires to be critical, equitable, inclusive and hopeful (in an age of doom). In more specialist terms, he has long-standing interests in: (a) how power dynamics of colonialism and empire, past and present, are lived, imagined and landscaped geographically; and (b) the nature of geography as a discipline and discourse concerned with links between environment and society, and 'us' and 'them', and that has struggled with a damaging investment in Eurocentric and imperialist ways of knowing. He has worked, in these veins, on exploration and cartography; western-Native contact and colonialism in North America and the Pacific c. 1750-1850 (including the book Islands of Truth); the idea of tropicality c.1870-present (including the book Impure and Worldly Geography); and spaces of decolonisation and revolution c. 1940-1980. His research engages postcolonial, subaltern and decolonial literatures and approaches, and is expedited through courses at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø on the historical geography of capitalism; geographic thought; and colonial and postcolonial geographies.
Dan's current projects are on: 'decolonisation and asymmetric life'; and 'the jungle environment of the Vietnam War'; and with a longer/wider book project on Colonialism's Geographies. He is also involved in a collaborative project on 'imperial immunities' (with Prof. Jo Sharp SGSD, and Prof. Christos Lynteris SPAFS).
PhD supervision
- Joshua Hazelbower
- Chenoa Whiterock-Beedie
Selected publications
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Open access
Clayton, D., 23 Apr 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Progress in Human Geography. OnlineFirst, 16 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Clayton, D., 21 Mar 2024, Geography: Oxford bibliographies. Warf, B. (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 37 p. (Oxford bibliographies. Geography).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary
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Open access
Clayton, D., 3 Sept 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Dialogues in Human Geography. OnlineFirst, 5 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Clayton, D., 23 Mar 2023, In: BC Studies. 216, p. 132-142 11 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Clayton, D., 30 Dec 2022, In: Revista Terra Brasilis. 17, 24 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Bowd, G. P. & Clayton, D., 4 Mar 2022, In: L'Espace Politique. 43, 1
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Clayton, D. & Jazeel, T., 22 Aug 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Scottish Geographical Journal. Latest Articles, 19 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Clayton, D., 1 Aug 2022, In: Progress in Human Geography. 46, 4, p. 1121-1124 4 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review
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Open access
Clayton, D., 20 Oct 2021, In: Detours: Social Science Education Research Journal. 2, 1, p. 60-63 3 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Warren, C. & Clayton, D., 14 Feb 2021, In: Scottish Geographical Journal. 136, 1-4, p. 1-4 4 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial