Dr Zoe Alker

Lecturer in Historical Social Data Science

Research Overview

I joined the History department in Lancaster University in 2022, where I research and teach the history of crime, justice and punishment from the eighteenth to twentieth century. My research has involved co-creating large-scale, open access, digital historical archives (Digital Panopticon [AHRC], Convict Tattoos [British Academy/ JISC], Skin and Bone [British Academy/ Leverhulme]) that allow academics and the wider public to engage with histories of crime and the social and cultural history of modern Britain. I’m currently developing a project with Dr Richard Ward (Exeter) which uses machine learning to examine deaths in prison custody, 1760-1925, and I'm writing a monograph on the history of femicide, violence and misogyny in Victorian England. I am Chief Editor of the SOLON Explorations in Crime and Criminal Justice book series. I enjoy writing and speaking for TV, radio and print, and my work has received coverage in the BBC, The Times, Independent, Observer, CNN and the Smithsonian. I also enjoy working and publishing with activist organisations and policy thinktanks including Howard Leage for Penal Reform.

Selected Publications

Young Criminal Lives: Youth Justice and its Impacts, 1855-1925
Alker, Z., Godfrey, B., Cox, P., Shore, H. 26/10/2017 Oxford University Press (OUP). ISBN: 9780198788492. Electronic ISBN: 9780191830372.
Book

Gender and the commission of violent street robbery in Liverpool, 1850–1870. A historic criminology approach
Alker, Z. 31/03/2023 In: Journal of Criminal Justice. 85, 11 p.
Journal article

Convicts and the Cultural Significance of Tattooing in Nineteenth-Century Britain
Alker, Z., Shoemaker, R. 31/10/2022 In: Journal of British Studies. 61, 4, p. 835-862.
Journal article

Biography and Autobiography in Criminological (and Victimological) Research
Alker, Z., McGarry, R. 09/2018 In: Doing Criminological Research. Sage ISBN: 9781473902725, 9781473902732.
Chapter

Digital Detectives: Exploring Digital Archives of Victorian Crime and Punishment
Alker, Z. 2020
Other contribution

History, life-course criminology and digital methods: new directions for conceptualizing juvenile justice in Europe
Alker, Z. 20/08/2018 In: Juvenile Justice in Europe: Past, Present and Future. Routledge ISBN: 9781138721319, 9781138721371. Electronic ISBN: 9781315194493.
Chapter

Tracking the Gendered Life Courses of Care Leavers in 19th-Century Britain
Alker, Z., Cox, P., Godfrey, B., Shore, H. 2018 In: Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. 9, 1, p. 115-128.
Journal article

The Garrotting Crisis
Alker, Z. 21/06/2017 In: Companion to the History of Crime and Punishment. Policy Press ISBN: 978-1447325871.
Chapter

Soldiers and Victims: Conceptions of Military Service and Victimhood, 1914–45
Alker, Z., Godfrey, B. 23/08/2016 In: Palgrave Handbook on Criminology and War. Palgrave Macmillan Electronic ISBN: 978-1-137-43170-7.
Chapter

Digital Detectives: Sources for Crime History
Alker, Z. 2016 In: Using Primary Sources: a Practical Guide for Students. Liverpool : Liverpool University Press Electronic ISBN: 9781789620894.
Chapter

Tickets of Leave
Alker, Z. 2016 In: Companion to the History of Crime and Punishment. University of Chester Press
Chapter

Victorian Youth Justice: What Worked?
Alker, Z. 1/09/2015 In: Howard League ECAN Bulletin. 27, p. 6-9.
Journal article

War as an Opportunity for Divergence and Desistence from Crime, 1750-1945
Alker, Z. 24/03/2015 In: Criminology and War: Transgressing the Borders. London : Routledge ISBN: 9780415722155. Electronic ISBN: 9781315858425.
Chapter

The Digital Classroom: New Social Media and Teaching Victorian Crime
Alker, Z. 2015 In: Law, Crime and History. 5, 1, p. 77-92.
Journal article

Victorian Youth Justice: Did it Work?
Alker, Z. 2015
Other contribution

Why Study Criminal History?
Alker, Z. 2014 In: Criminology and Criminal Justice for the Curious. University of Canberra
Chapter

Higher Alcohol Prices Don’t Always Mean Less Violence
Alker, Z. 30/04/2014
Blog

Skin and Bone: Interdisciplinary analysis of accidents, injury, and violence in industrialising London, 1760-1901
31/08/2022 → 01/12/2023
Research

British Academy/ JISC Data Mining Convict Tattoos
01/08/2018 → 31/08/2019
Research

DATA SCIENCE/ DATA ACTIVISM: THE TECHNOLOGIES OF EVERYDAY BORDERING, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar

Routledge (Publisher)
Editorial activity