Enslaved as Outsiders, Enslaved as Property: Understanding Slavery in a Global and Early Modern Context

Abstract

This text seeks to de-center existing narratives regarding enslavement, which traditionally focus on how it was practiced in North America, and instead to observe it in the longue durée and more globally. It asks about the various roles enslaved persons played in different times and geographical locations, paying particular attention to the ways by which they contributed to the reproduction of families, kin groups and communities. It also questions the assumption that slaves were property by setting enslavement on a larger canvas and by observing early modern debates regarding both the household and labor relations.