Research Statement
My main area of research has, to date, concentrated on the social, gender, business and policy history of the Second World War (and entirely from a British perspective). I have presented my research at over 60 international conferences, and developed links with scholars in North America, Canada, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and China. My current research focuses on the relationship and perceptions of the British government towards China during the Second World War – the materials for which I collected as a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Center for European Studies. This research will form part of my second monograph. This research is primarily concerned with the examining how both Britain and the United States of America perceived China as a country of strategic importance for the prosecution of the Second World War. It will explore the extent to which the nature of the wartime relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, and their disagreements over China influenced the way in which strategic decisions were made in this theater of war. It will also allude to the importance of voluntary movements, especially trade unions, in relation to their humanitarian work for Chinese refugees and victims of war. Furthermore, it will explore how the changing political situation in China in the aftermath of the war served to create tensions between the USA, UK and China, and strained the prospect of long-term international peace.
Research Keywords
- World War Two
- Women Workers in Britain in Wartime
- Foreign Policy and Diplomatic History
- Business History
- British History
- Anglo American Relations
Presentations
- MARK JAMES CROWLEY (2023) “Health is Wealth”: The drive to improve occupational health in British coalmines during the Second World War. Conference Paper, Presented, 11/10/2023.
- MARK JAMES CROWLEY (2023) A humanitarian bridge to China: British Women’s fight against Japanese Fascism, and their assistance to China in the Second World War. Conference Paper, Presented, 05/26/2023.
- MARK JAMES CROWLEY (2022) Women and the Post Office Savings Bank in Britain, 1930-1945. Conference Paper, Presented, 07/28/2022.
- MARK JAMES CROWLEY (2021) British Women’s fight against Japanese Fascism, and their assistance to China in the Second World War. Conference Paper, Presented, 05/20/2021.
Languages
- Chinese, basic.
Basic conversational. - English, fluent.
- French, functional.
Functional spoken and written.
Geographical Regions of Interest
- China
Anglo-American relations with China during the Second World War.
Publications
- Crowley, Mark J, 'The China Campaign Committee in Britain, boycotts and the effort to help the Chinese population, 1938-45', in Jari Eloranta et al, The Routledge Handbook on the Economic History of War (London: Routledge, 2024). Discipline based - refereed, Accepted, 10/01/2023.
- Crowley, Mark J & Dawson, Sandra Trudgen (2023). Women's Experiences of the Second World War Exile, Occupation and Everyday Life. (pp. 244). Boydell and Brewer.
Discipline based - refereed,
Published, 03/01/2023.
https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781783275878/womens-... - Crowley, Mark J & Dawson, Sandra Trudgen (2023). Standing in Solidarity: British Women and the China Campaign Committee, 1937-1945. (pp. 15). Vernon Press. Discipline based - refereed, Accepted, 01/01/2023.
- Crowley, Mark J & Dawson, Sandra Trudgen (2020). Women’s Wartime Experience: Exile, Survival and Everyday Life, 1939-45 . (pp. 222). Boydell and Brewer. Discipline based - refereed, Accepted, 12/01/2020.