Fiona Williamson
Biographic Data
| ID | 3721647 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Fiona Williamson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Fiona |
| FAMILY NAME | Williamson |
| SIGNATURE | WILLIAMSON F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Singapore Management University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1203-8546 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 35 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 18 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 35 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Making monsoon meteorology
The Winter Monsoon Experiment (WMONEX) of 1978-9 was part of the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP). Described as the first international atmospheric-oceanic project for the Eastern Hemisphere, WMONEX employed eighty scientists from Malaysia, the U.S., the U.S.S.R., China, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Australia. The GARP was one of the largest international collaborative scientific ve…
Rubber Imperialism
This article investigates how American interests influenced the evolution of one of British Malaya's most significant agricultural exports—natural rubber—from the 1920s into the 1950s. It situates colonial plantations as the loci of the relationship between two contemporary world powers as they locked horns over one of the world's most valuable commodities. In so doing, it frames the colonial plantation as a contested site where international pol…
Local problems, global solutions? Making it rain in Hong Kong c. 1890–1930
The late nineteenth to early twentieth century saw a small but dedicated rise in experimental rainmaking. The possibility that humanity might one day be able to control the weather – especially to alleviate drought – was very attractive to governments and private investors. The late nineteenth century was an era of scientific optimism and a number of rainmaking experiments across the world had brought the potential for weather control out of the …
Meteorology, weather and war in South East Asia
This article interrogates the positioning of British colonial meteorology in Malaysia and Singapore from the 1940s to 1960. This period spanned a global conflict and an internecine war, effecting profound sociopolitical changes from which neither Malaysia nor Singapore would emerge the same. The meteorological services were essential to Britain’s armed conflicts, providing vital weather information to the army, navy and, especially, the air force…
Rubber Wars
This article argues the Malayan rubber industry’s fortunes both reflected and coloured the relationship between Britain and the USA during the early Cold War era. British Malaya had developed a world leading rubber industry within a few short decades. The importance of rubber to burgeoning manufacturing and transport industries however – especially in the United States – meant that the commodity became caught up in the geopolitics of a changing w…
Using simulations of future extreme weather events to escape the resilience trap
Multiethnic elites and the management of tropical heat in colonial Malaya, circa 1870s-1930s
This article considers the responses of multiethnic urban elites to living with tropical heat in colonial Malaya by analysing attitudes towards the meteorological study of temperature, commercial cold storage and hill stations. A transcolonial and transimperial approach is used to illustrate that interest in managing and monitoring temperature was slower to develop in Malaya compared with other tropical colonies. The article also considers how ac…
Atmosphere, environment, society
By looking at how typhoon risk was managed in early twentieth-century colonial Hong Kong, this article argues that bringing a historical lens to the discussion of the human-climate-environment nexus is an essential part of studies of resilience and vulnerability. It interprets physical evidence of the strength of a natural event against human factors, including structural and social vulnerabilities and governance. Investigating two of the deadlie…
Vulnerability to climatic and environmental disaster and change in the Indian Ocean World
An Ocean Apart
Throughout the late nineteenth century, the British established observatories, meteorological posts, and stations across their burgeoning empire. These institutions and their networks were part of a global endeavor to map and understand the weather by collating vast quantities of data, and, it has been argued, they were also emblematic of imperial prowess and reach. In the Straits Settlements, however, unlike almost every other British colony, ob…
Heat and Colonial Weather Science in the Straits Settlements, c. 1820–1900
Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society - Volume 95, Part 2, No. 323, December 2022
Just doing their job
This article investigates the contribution made by indigenous employees to the work of the Hong Kong Observatory from its inception and into the early twentieth century. As has so often been the case in Western histories of science, the significance of indigenous workers and of women in the Hong Kong Observatory has been obscured by the stories of the government officials and observatory director(s). Yet without the employees, the service could n…
Framing Asian atmospheres
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Responding to extremes
The “cultural turn” of climate history
The last few years have seen a surge of scholarly interest in how cultures have been influenced by climate, climatic changes, and extremes of weather. This “cultural turn” of climate history draws from the archives of society, rather than the archives of nature, and is heavily influenced by interpretative and methodological frameworks drawn from the humanities fields. Attention has been largely focused on European contexts and cultures. This arti…
'Living in a State of Filth and Indifference to … Their Health'
This article explores the development of public health infrastructure in George Town, Penang, before the 1930s. It argues that the extreme weather of the tropical climate led to a unique set of health challenges for George Town's administrators, as the town grew from a small British base to a multi-cultural and thriving port. Weather and public health were (and still are) integrally connected, although the framing of this relationship has undergo…
Malaya’s greatest menace? Slow-onset disaster and the muddy politics of British Malaya, c. 1900–50
In 1948, a chilling statement from British Malaya's Director of Agriculture, F. Burnett, made headline news. According to Burnett, unchecked soil erosion across hillside Malaya would soon render the country's precious agricultural land infertile. Erosion had worsened considerably after the 1880s due to widespread, indiscriminate agricultural and industrial clearing. By the 1920s, it had become a sizeable socioeconomic and environmental issue, tho…
Disasters fast and slow
History functions in turn as an eyepiece, a microscope, or a telescope In changing scale, one does not see things as larger or smaller One sees different things There are different concatenations of configuration and causality
The politics of disaster
Singapore in the 1950s was a deeply divided society. Struggling to recover from the hardships of the Second World War and fighting an internal battle that the British government termed an ‘emergency’, it was a time of hardship, tension, and anxiety. In the midst of this crisis, Singapore's inhabitants continued to manage the natural elements of their climate and environment, especially the dangerous combination of heavy monsoonal rains, low-lying…
When “Comoners Were Made Slaves by the Magistrates”
This article tells the story of a contested provincial election for sheriff which took place in Norwich during 1627. In light of recent scholarly critiques of studies that frame the early-modern period in terms of binary opposites, this article demonstrates that 1620s political culture is hard to define in such stark terms. Through a close reading of the events, characters, and outcomes of the election, this article also shows the importance of e…
Toward integrated historical climate research
[Article in WIREs Clim Change 2016, 7:164–174. The Nottingham based project exploring Documentary reconstructions of extreme weather events in the UK, past, present and future, is funded through the AHRC, Grant number: AH/K005782/1. 'The Snows of Yesteryear: Narrating Extreme Weather' Project, based at the University of Wales, was funded by the AHRC, award number AH/K502765/1
Toward integrated historical climate research
Climate change has become a key environmental narrative of the 21st century. However, emphasis on the science of climate change has overshadowed studies focusing on human interpretations of climate history, of adaptation and resilience, and of explorations of the institutions and cultural coping strategies that may have helped people adapt to climate changes in the past. Moreover, although the idea of climate change has been subject to considerab…
The Uses of Space in Early Modern History
The last few years have seen an outpouring of scholarly work exploring space and place in early modern society. Paul Stock’s cogently argued introductory chapter makes a convincing case for yet ano
Drinking Houses, Popular Politics and the Middling Sorts in Early Seventeenth-Century Norwich
This article explores some of the most notorious popular political events of early seventeenth-century Norwich, with an eye to understanding these events as specific to the political culture of the middling sorts, especially the freemen electorate. Popular politics was not of course the sole preserve of the middling sorts, but it is interesting how the surviving evidence of political activity (including riots and contested elections) in Norwich s…
Alexander C. T. Geppert, Fleeting Cities
Toward integrated historical climate research
Climate change has become a key environmental narrative of the 21st century. However, emphasis on the science of climate change has overshadowed studies focusing on human interpretations of climate history, of adaptation and resilience, and of explorations of the institutions and cultural coping strategies that may have helped people adapt to climate changes in the past. Moreover, although the idea of climate change has been subject to considerab…
Weathering the empire
This article explores meteorological interest and experimentation in the early history of the Straits Settlements. It centres on the establishment of an observatory in 1840s Singapore and examines the channels that linked the observatory to a global community of scientists, colonial officers and a reading public. It will argue that, although the value of overseas meteorological investigation was recognized by the British government, investment wa…
An Ocean Apart
Throughout the late nineteenth century, the British established observatories, meteorological posts, and stations across their burgeoning empire. These institutions and their networks were part of a global endeavor to map and understand the weather by collating vast quantities of data, and, it has been argued, they were also emblematic of imperial prowess and reach. In the Straits Settlements, however, unlike almost every other British colony, ob…
Responding to extremes
The “cultural turn” of climate history
The last few years have seen a surge of scholarly interest in how cultures have been influenced by climate, climatic changes, and extremes of weather. This “cultural turn” of climate history draws from the archives of society, rather than the archives of nature, and is heavily influenced by interpretative and methodological frameworks drawn from the humanities fields. Attention has been largely focused on European contexts and cultures. This arti…
Disasters fast and slow
History functions in turn as an eyepiece, a microscope, or a telescope In changing scale, one does not see things as larger or smaller One sees different things There are different concatenations of configuration and causality
Space and the City
Influenced by interdisciplinary studies and the ‘spatial turn’ in social history, this article explores the relationship between space and the construction of gender identity amongst the poor to middling sorts of seventeenth-century Norwich. To this end I have considered gendered interaction in different ‘types' of space: domestic, private space, ‘borderline’ space – such as the alehouse or threshold – and, finally, the public space of streets an…
Mary Astell
This collection of essays was inspired by a session on Mary Astell at the Modern Language Association (MLA) annual convention in 2002. Its premiss is ambitious, drawing on ‘new historicism’ to attempt a multi-disciplinary approach to re-reading Astell's work. This focus serves to move away from traditional feminist interpretations in order to widen the perimeters of study to encompass the perspectives of history, literature and political philosop…
Gender and Space in Early Modern England by Amanda Flather
Mary Astell
This collection of essays was inspired by a session on Mary Astell at the Modern Language Association (MLA) annual convention in 2002. Its premiss is ambitious, drawing on ‘new historicism’ to attempt a multi-disciplinary approach to re-reading Astell's work. This focus serves to move away from traditional feminist interpretations in order to widen the perimeters of study to encompass the perspectives of history, literature and political philosop…
The Family in Early Modern England . Edited by Helen Berry and Elizabeth Foyster.
Women and Portraits in Early Modern Europe
Public and Private Worlds? Social History, Gender and Space
Michael McKeon’s The Secret History of Domesticity is an important contribution to cultural and literary history, exploring how concepts of public and private evolved. His quest to uncover the ‘division of knowledge’ takes the reader on a journey through the low and high culture of literary genre, the history of print, art, architecture, entertainment, politics and social theory. This essay compares McKeon’s reading of public and private in light…
Space and the City
Influenced by interdisciplinary studies and the ‘spatial turn’ in social history, this article explores the relationship between space and the construction of gender identity amongst the poor to middling sorts of seventeenth-century Norwich. To this end I have considered gendered interaction in different ‘types' of space: domestic, private space, ‘borderline’ space – such as the alehouse or threshold – and, finally, the public space of streets an…
Domestic Institutional Interiors in Early Modern Europe . Edited by Sandra Cavallo and Silvia Evangelisti
The Spatial Turn of Social and Cultural History
Eleanor Hubbard, City Women
Drinking Houses, Popular Politics and the Middling Sorts in Early Seventeenth-Century Norwich
This article explores some of the most notorious popular political events of early seventeenth-century Norwich, with an eye to understanding these events as specific to the political culture of the middling sorts, especially the freemen electorate. Popular politics was not of course the sole preserve of the middling sorts, but it is interesting how the surviving evidence of political activity (including riots and contested elections) in Norwich s…
Alexander C. T. Geppert, Fleeting Cities
Weathering the empire
This article explores meteorological interest and experimentation in the early history of the Straits Settlements. It centres on the establishment of an observatory in 1840s Singapore and examines the channels that linked the observatory to a global community of scientists, colonial officers and a reading public. It will argue that, although the value of overseas meteorological investigation was recognized by the British government, investment wa…
Toward integrated historical climate research
[Article in WIREs Clim Change 2016, 7:164–174. The Nottingham based project exploring Documentary reconstructions of extreme weather events in the UK, past, present and future, is funded through the AHRC, Grant number: AH/K005782/1. 'The Snows of Yesteryear: Narrating Extreme Weather' Project, based at the University of Wales, was funded by the AHRC, award number AH/K502765/1
Toward integrated historical climate research
Climate change has become a key environmental narrative of the 21st century. However, emphasis on the science of climate change has overshadowed studies focusing on human interpretations of climate history, of adaptation and resilience, and of explorations of the institutions and cultural coping strategies that may have helped people adapt to climate changes in the past. Moreover, although the idea of climate change has been subject to considerab…
The Uses of Space in Early Modern History
The last few years have seen an outpouring of scholarly work exploring space and place in early modern society. Paul Stock’s cogently argued introductory chapter makes a convincing case for yet ano
When “Comoners Were Made Slaves by the Magistrates”
This article tells the story of a contested provincial election for sheriff which took place in Norwich during 1627. In light of recent scholarly critiques of studies that frame the early-modern period in terms of binary opposites, this article demonstrates that 1620s political culture is hard to define in such stark terms. Through a close reading of the events, characters, and outcomes of the election, this article also shows the importance of e…
'Living in a State of Filth and Indifference to … Their Health'
This article explores the development of public health infrastructure in George Town, Penang, before the 1930s. It argues that the extreme weather of the tropical climate led to a unique set of health challenges for George Town's administrators, as the town grew from a small British base to a multi-cultural and thriving port. Weather and public health were (and still are) integrally connected, although the framing of this relationship has undergo…
Malaya’s greatest menace? Slow-onset disaster and the muddy politics of British Malaya, c. 1900–50
In 1948, a chilling statement from British Malaya's Director of Agriculture, F. Burnett, made headline news. According to Burnett, unchecked soil erosion across hillside Malaya would soon render the country's precious agricultural land infertile. Erosion had worsened considerably after the 1880s due to widespread, indiscriminate agricultural and industrial clearing. By the 1920s, it had become a sizeable socioeconomic and environmental issue, tho…
Disasters fast and slow
History functions in turn as an eyepiece, a microscope, or a telescope In changing scale, one does not see things as larger or smaller One sees different things There are different concatenations of configuration and causality
The politics of disaster
Singapore in the 1950s was a deeply divided society. Struggling to recover from the hardships of the Second World War and fighting an internal battle that the British government termed an ‘emergency’, it was a time of hardship, tension, and anxiety. In the midst of this crisis, Singapore's inhabitants continued to manage the natural elements of their climate and environment, especially the dangerous combination of heavy monsoonal rains, low-lying…
Responding to extremes
The “cultural turn” of climate history
The last few years have seen a surge of scholarly interest in how cultures have been influenced by climate, climatic changes, and extremes of weather. This “cultural turn” of climate history draws from the archives of society, rather than the archives of nature, and is heavily influenced by interpretative and methodological frameworks drawn from the humanities fields. Attention has been largely focused on European contexts and cultures. This arti…
Just doing their job
This article investigates the contribution made by indigenous employees to the work of the Hong Kong Observatory from its inception and into the early twentieth century. As has so often been the case in Western histories of science, the significance of indigenous workers and of women in the Hong Kong Observatory has been obscured by the stories of the government officials and observatory director(s). Yet without the employees, the service could n…
Framing Asian atmospheres
An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Heat and Colonial Weather Science in the Straits Settlements, c. 1820–1900
Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society - Volume 95, Part 2, No. 323, December 2022
History (21 works) · Political science (21 works) · History (18 works) · Law (16 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Geography (14 works) · Law (14 works) · Archaeology (11 works) · Social science (10 works) · Politics (9 works)