James A. Smith is a literary scholar and political commentator. His current activities include writing a book on the eighteenth-century novelist Charlotte Lennox, another on the Argentine political philosopher Ernesto Laclau in light of recent electoral engagements with his work, and one on 'culture'.

James's literary scholarship focuses on mid eighteenth-century literature, especially the work of Samuel Richardson and Charlotte Lennox; as well as on the history and political application of literary theory and criticism today. 

James's writings on contemporary politics have appeared in scholarly publications and 'public' books, as well as in the Independent, Jacobin, Newsweek, and many other journalistic outlets. He has been interviewed in various media, including most recently Dazed magazine. James has given talks at political events and group meetings across the UK, and for several years hosted a successful political podcast. 

James welcomes media requests on any political topics or on work and the future of work.

His first book is Samuel Richardson and the Theory of Tragedy (Manchester University Press). Other People's Politics: Populism to Corbynism was published by Zer0 Books in 2019. Work Want Work: Labour and Desire at the End of Capitalism (co-written with Mareile Pfannebecker) appeared with Zed Books in 2020. A revised version appeared in German as Alles Ist Arbeit (Edition Nautlius, 2022), and a Chinese edition is under contract. 

James's PhD supervisions include Mikey Atienza's completed thesis on T.S. Eliot and creative/critical writing and Gemma Holgate's on early twentieth-century feminist novels. He is currently supervising a PhD on work in the platform economy with colleagues in Media Arts.

James is happy to be contacted about graduate work on any literary or political/cultural topic, and by students wishing to study contemporary politics and media using critical theory approaches. 

* Eighteenth-century literature, especially the novels of Samuel Richardson and Charlotte Lennox

* The reception of Shakespeare in the eighteenth century

* Cultural theory and literary criticism, their history and their application today

* Populism and anti-populism, digital culture, theories of work, the political left 

EN3233 Interrogations of Culture: Theory and Thinkers

EN3126: The Other Side of Enlightenment: the 18th Century in Literature, Theory, and Film

EN2324: Contemporary Debates in Literary Theory 

EN2120: Age of Oppositions, Literature 1660-1780

EN1105 Literature and Crisis

EN1107: Re-Orienting the Novel

Dr Smith undertook his undergraduate and postgraduate study at the University of Manchester