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The study of enslavement has acquired urgency over the last two decades. Social scientists, legal scholars, human rights activists, and historians, who study forms of enslavement in both modern and historical societies, seek-and often... more
The study of enslavement has acquired urgency over the last two decades. Social scientists, legal scholars, human rights activists, and historians, who study forms of enslavement in both modern and historical societies, seek-and often achieve-common conceptual grounds. This "turn" has also intensified awareness of enslavement as a global phenomenon, inviting a comparative, trans-regional approach across time-space divides. But what does global enslavement mean? Does it mean that enslavement appears in most societies and periods, that is, transcends spatial and temporal boundaries? Is it enough to broaden the range of areas and periods studied to earn the title "global"? Or, does global mean that whenever and wherever enslavement existed it had a universal essence that can be defined in terms and concepts which are valid for all its occurrences and manifestations? Should we, in trying to study global enslavement, view enslavement beyond history? Or, should we adopt a historical approach, taking into consideration change, diversity, fluidity, and differentiation? In other words, is enslavement constant and applicable to any region and period, an aggregate of various forms, processes, and narratives? Alternatively, are these really "either-or" questions, or can they be reconciled as "both." These questions, which still concern contemporary scholarship, gave rise to several theories and models that aim at understanding enslavement as a worldwide institution. Societies may share common practices of bondage and enslavement but also diverge in their understanding of these phenomena. Whereas the ways and means by which such societies acquired and enslaved humans were often relatively similar, how enslaved persons were being exploited and treated was often historically different. Nevertheless, both the acquisition of enslaved persons and the maintenance of enslavement itself over time always included the use of various degrees of violence, and both connect and separate societies by applying economic and political powers and ideologies. The study of forced migration and human trafficking, as well as other features of enslavement, may bring closer different approaches to the study of enslavement as a global phenomenon. Demand for unfree labor often generated forced migration, with its local and global economic, political, and cultural implications. Gender, ethnicity/race, property, and domination also played a major role in the relationships formed within enslavement. These were being shaped by both the interests
This is the rationale and program of the conference held in Bonn a few weeks ago. The event was the first to be fully dedicated to work done in recent years in the burgeoning sub-field of enslavement in the Ottoman Empire. Professor... more
This is the rationale and program of the conference held in Bonn a few weeks ago. The event was the first to be fully dedicated to work done in recent years in the burgeoning sub-field of enslavement in the Ottoman Empire. Professor Stephan Conermann and Dr Gül Şen deserve a great deal of credit for putting that wonderful program together.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: