Towards a Global History of Early Modern Enslavement

• Department of History

This seminar aims at offering a first inroad into different historiographical traditions.

All societies knew forms of enslavement and unfreedom, and enslaved labour was an integral part of the social, cultural, and last but not least, economic world of Mediterranean galleys, Brazilian gold mining, the Ottoman administration, Barbados plantations, Peruvian craft workshops, or agricultural estates in the Rus. Enslaved Chinese people arrived in Mexico and the enslaved Europeans filled the bagnos of North African polities. Forced migrations reshaped societies across all continents. The rise of the trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved people created new forms of enslavement and turned the trade into a truly global business of unprecedented proportion. Its human impact reached deep into the interiors of the African and American continents and its economic and political consequences transformed large parts of Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Some would argue it is the very basis of our modern economic system. It is thus surprising that the literature on enslavement and enslaved people is deeply shaped by national historiographical traditions and has struggled to go global .

This seminar asks if or how the history of enslavement fits into new global histories and histories of capitalism and to what extend global, transnational, and comparative approaches can contribute to overcoming the existing boundaries within this field of study. 

Please note that the session on 08/02 will be held jointly with the March Paper in Early Modern History Seminar.