Kathleen Frederickson

Kathleen Frederickson is an Associate Professor of English at the University of California, Davis. She holds affiliations with the Graduate Group in Cultural Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Critical Theory, and Feminist Theory and Research programs. Her research bridges Victorian literature and culture with the history of sciences, economics, and political theory. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from McGill University.

Her work focuses on intersections between economics, politics, and the sciences in Victorian contexts. Current projects include a second book on economics and the psychologization of density. Her book The Ploy of Instinct received an Honorable Mention for the Sonya Rudikoff Prize. Research interests span feminist/queer studies, Marxism, psychoanalysis, and the history of physics, biology, psychology, and social sciences.

Key publications analyze topics like quarantine policies in colonial contexts, queer logistics in Dickens' Little Dorrit, and the financialization of Victorian science. Her work frequently employs interdisciplinary methods, blending literary criticism with historical and socio-scientific analysis. Ongoing projects explore how scientific concepts shape liberal governance and gender/sexuality frameworks.

Frederickson's scholarship emphasizes materialist aesthetics, affect theory, and postcolonial critiques. She has contributed to journals like differences, Literature Compass, and Victorian Studies, while engaging with contemporary debates around globalization and environmental humanities. Her research underscores the entanglement of cultural narratives with economic and scientific systems.