Mamdani - Trans-African Slaveries Thinking Historically

Talks about how slavery cannot be defined solely as chattel slavery
Argues against the notion put out by Orlando Patterson and Bruce Hall
Islamic forms of slavery were actually a part of the slave market that eventually turned into chattel slavery
Chattel slavery and free people were two sides of the same coin, examples where the people were the most free (like Athens) also had the most chattel slavery
Shift of greeks and romans from half free people to reliance on chattel slaves from outside was the emergence of the idea of freedom
Argues that Patterson, in his attempt to find a coherent definition of slavery, overlooked many differences
- In Islam, Mamaluks
- In Ethopia, various other groups
Early data about #s of slaves were largely anecdotal and basically wild guesses
Zanj rebellion in Iraq, lead by Ali
- Large, spartacus like revolt from Southern iraq of free people and poors
- Lasted over 15 years
Race based slavery was a western import, largely allowing for racialized taxonomies with colonialization
- previously one could “become” an arab, just as you could convert to islam
Haterin in northern Morocco
Universal definitions of slavery is a fool’s errand, too difficult to actually conceptualize
Segregation produces a clear divide between slave and non-slave, while the dominant discourse on slavery has been defined as the meeting point of abolitionist and Orientialist