Anthropology
Slavery, Emancipation and Legacies
Module code: L6303A
Level 6
30 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Workshop
Assessment modes: Portfolio, Coursework
How do contemporary and historical forms of slavery shape political, economic, social and cultural life along lines of race, caste, gender and class?
This module examines enslaved and unfree persons, processes of emancipation, and legacies of slavery from crosscultural perspectives. Despite longstanding national and international legislation on abolition and emancipation, slavery and unfree labour have ongoing histories and legacies. Addressing historical formations of slavery as well as their transformations into the contemporary era, the module explores:
- intersections of enslavement with genocide
- colonialism
- (forced) migration and global capitalism
- resistance
- rebellion and emancipation movements
- legacies of unfree labour in physical and structural violence
- intimate relationships
- material environments
- contested memorialisation.
Module learning outcomes
- demonstrate understanding of how unfreedom takes historically divergent forms, and of how it intersects with race, ethnicity, caste, gender and class
- demonstrate understanding of transformations of slavery and unfree labour over time
- demonstrate understanding of how slavery and unfree labour have shaped historical and contemporary political, economic, social and cultural life
- demonstrate understanding of how slavery and its legacies challenge conventional narratives of global history
- critically evaluate the forms, possibilities and limitations of emancipation programmes and resistance movements
- apply anthropological analyses, such as of capitalism, colonialism, kinship, material culture and memory, to the study of past and present forms of unfreedom