This seminar sets out to take a critical look at how histories of slavery are told. This will be done by examining a diversity of historical slaveries, the problems of defining slavery, as well as how categories of difference are constructed and (re)produced historically within varying relationships of dependency. In this respect, intersectional positionalities will be reflected upon so as to move away from a strict hierarchical categorization of exploitation, toward a conversation which tries to take multiple spectrums of agency and dependency into consideration.
European colonialism and transatlantic slavery will be examined in the context of trying to offer a safe space to collectively develop a critical understanding of racial oppression as a continued legacy of these historical processes. At the same time however, Eurocentric thought will be challenged in terms of how 18th century abolitionist definitions of slavery are still often taken as a measuring stick for conceptualising all historical slaveries and relationships of dependency. This will on the one hand be done by engaging with some of the most recent literature exploring pre-modern slaveries, as well as slaveries outside of the European colonial context. While on the other hand abolition and colonial slavery will be examined in terms of current debates in relation to capitalism, as well as how they have been appropriated and/or are dealt with in history, memory and the museum.
Through critical engagement with both language and historical narratives, students will acquire a theoretical knowledge of power, inequality and categories of difference within hierarchical relationships of dependency. This knowledge will be obtained, supported and directly applied through engagement with (interdisciplinary) historical arguments, as well as primary sources so as to understand how historical slaveries shifted in reaction to changing contexts and global processes. Both a transfer-historical approach and a critical temporal awareness of conceptual emergence will aid us in collectively deconstructing how histories and narratives of slavery are told.
- Trainer/in: europast europast