Collapsing the Boundaries Between De Jure and De Facto Slavery: The Foundations of Slavery Beyond the Transatlantic Fram
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Collapsing the Boundaries Between De Jure and De Facto Slavery: The Foundations of Slavery Beyond the Transatlantic Frame Katarina Schwarz 1
& Andrea
Nicholson 2
# The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The identification of contemporary forms of slavery is often problematically demarcated by reference to transatlantic enslavement as the definitive archetype. Such an approach overlooks other historic slaveries and neglects the totality of the maangamizi—the African holocaust. This article addresses the problematics of positioning the transatlantic system as the paradigm and unpacks the constituent elements of de jure slavery to construct an understanding of slavery as a condition as well as a status. By identifying the core features of de jure chattel slavery through time, this paper displaces the assumption that legal status is determinative, giving meaning to the concept of slavery in the contemporary world. Keywords Slavery . Modern slavery . Human rights . Maangamizi . Definition
Introduction Slavery has existed throughout human history, yet the parameters of the institution continue be contested. Such disputes are particularly acute in the consideration of ‘modern slavery’—that is, enslavement and related exploitation in the contemporary world. ‘Modern slavery’ scholars and activists assert the continued relevance of slavery, in some cases extending slavery as an umbrella term capturing a range of otherwise separately defined practices,1 and in others presenting it as a discrete and holistic concept (see Bales 1 This approach most commonly includes servitude, forced labour, human trafficking, and forced marriage as forms of ‘modern slavery’, for instance International Labour Organisation and Walk Free Foundation (2017) and the Modern Slavery Act (2015).
* Katarina Schwarz [email protected]
1
The Rights Lab and School of Law, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
2
The Rights Lab and School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
K. Schwarz, A. Nicholson
2005, p 9). ‘Critical modern slavery’ scholars, on the other hand, challenge the language of ‘modern slavery’, in some instances arguing for wholesale abandonment of the concept of slavery in the contemporary world (O’Connell Davidson 2015), and in others advocating greater limitations on its application (Chuang 2015). But, far from a binary debate, a diversity of perspectives on the content and parameters of the institution have developed over time (and with increased frequency in recent years), defining the contours and parameters of slavery in a plethora of different ways.2 Very often in contemporary deliberations over the nature and contours of slavery, the image of nineteenth century transatlantic enslavement3 serves as a backdrop to the conceptualisation of the institution—an uncontested and archetypical instance of enslavement based on racialised legal ownership of persons. However, the perspectives and insights of activists and scholars advocating for reparatory justice for the system of tra
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