Hidden Economies of Slavery

9-10 December 2021
Venue: German Historical Institute London
Convenors: Felix Brahm (University of Hamburg/GHI London) and Melina Teubner (University of Bern)

Thursday, 9 December

1.30 p.m. Welcome and Introduction
Felix Brahm (University of Hamburg) and Melina Teubner (University of Bern)

2.00 p.m. Panel I: Hidden Economies of the Plantation System
Mathilde Ackermann (University of Bielefeld): The gérants: Hidden Actors of a Hidden Economy in 18th Century Saint-Domingue
Lisa Bratton (Tuskegee University): Unveiling the Hidden Economy of Slavery: Sharecropping Agreements from Historic Brattonsville, South Carolina
Chair: Michael Schaich (GHI London)

3.10 p.m. Tea/Coffee Break

3.45 p.m. Panel II: Capitalism and Second Slavery
Tâmis Parron (Universidade Federal Fluminense): Slavery and Fundamental Political Concepts of Liberalism
Silvana Andrade dos Santos (Universidade Federal Fluminense): Todos os Santos Factory: Transatlantic Slave Trade and Industry in Brazil during the 19th Century
Chair: Indra Sengupta (GHI London)

5.15-6.15 p.m. Keynote Lecture I and Discussion
Daniel Rood (University of Georgia): The Reinvention of Atlantic Slavery: Technology, Agriculture and Capitalism (provisional title)
Chair: Melina Teubner (University of Bern)

7.00 p.m. Conference Dinner

Friday, 10 December

10.00 a.m. Panel III: Shifting Boundaries Between Unfree Labour and Slavery
Gad Heuman (University of Warwick): Unfree Labour in the Caribbean: The Apprenticeship System
Amanuel Isak Tewolde (University of Johannesburg): The Economic Structures of Slavery in Ethiopia: A Historical Analysis
Chair: Tâmis Parron (Universidade Federal Fluminense)

11.10 a.m. Tea/Coffee Break

11.45- 12.45 Keynote Lecture II and Discussion
Felicitas Becker (Ghent University): Ethical and Practical Issues Around Field Work on Post-Slavery
Chair: Felix Brahm (University of Hamburg)

12.45 p.m. Lunch Break

2.00 p.m. Panel VI: Local and Global Impacts of Abolition
Alain El Youssef (University of São Paulo): The United States and Brazil in the Formation of the Second Age of Abolition
Chair: Mallika Leuzinger (GHI London)

2.35 p.m. Panel V: Alternative Coerced Labour Systems
Jelmer Vos (University of Glasgow): Coerced Labour at Angola’s Coffee Plantations in Comparative Perspective, c. 1860-1960
Rudolph Ng (University of Portsmouth): From esclavos to chinos: The Labor Transition in Cuba during the Nineteenth Century
Chair: Andreas Eckert (Humboldt University of Berlin)

3.45 p.m. Tea/Coffee Break

4.00 p.m. Closing Discussion and Perspectives for the Future
Discussant: Andreas Eckert (Humboldt University of Berlin)