Slavery, Capitalism and the Making of the Modern World

Guest speakers Jennifer Morgan, Seth Rockman, and Anthony Bogues will speak on slavery, capitalism, and the making of the modern world.

Jennifer Morgan is Chair and Professor of History in the department of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University

Seth Rockman is the Associate Professor of History at the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice (CSSJ).

Anthony Bogues is the Asa Messer Professor of Humanities and Critical Theory, Profesor of Africana Studies, and Director of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice (CSSJ).

Sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Co-sponsored with the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice

[roycerhett]

Professor Morgan changed my life with her African Diaspora course while I was a student at NYU. I'm forever grateful for the enlightening information that I learned from her.

[voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang]

they didn't "follow in the footsteps of Gujarat weavers" because as Noam Chomsky points out in "Year 501: The Conquest Continues" - the British Empire was based on "forced markets" that first had to DESTROY the thriving textile industry in India.

[elainehiggins]

We have so much leisure time we don’t know what to do with ourselves except be resentful.

[ahagamama]

Paid labor is also a kind of slavery! Especially when the laborer has no say in the rate of pay, especially when the wage is so small that it is impossible to live any kind of decent life. Slavery is still alive.

[ambiguism]

numeracy is a Godsend. I've had a sneaking suspicion about the calculability/metrics that inhere within racism, and was very excited to hear that it wasnt just me

[teeastarr]

What a great discussion on this panel. I’m here now, 2022

[alloomis]

always remember: democracy is possible, and likely to lead to a better human society.
it just needs people who want a better world, and are willing to fight for it.
'fight' scares people, who are eating regularly. so change doesn't begin in seminars.

[dottiebaker]

Not sure why the premise of many of these folks' ideas is so revolutionary. It's always been self evident to me that slavery and capitalism are part and parcel of the same oppressive and greedy imperialist system. Could you really have a successful capitalist system without slavery? And what would be the purpose of slavery unless it was to provide free labor for those who want to produce and trade goods? When you are so deep into it, it hard to see it clearly., especially when it comes to the moral deficit that's required at such a deep level.

[voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang]

Anthony Bogues is the best by far. thanks

[daviddestin]

as I have been saying for years - "The bastards just want their slaves back. Is that asking so much? We can make it equal-opportunity slavery, like ancient Rome."

[justingiersch]

None of you can tell a story without a script. 😅

[odyiiqk]

No mention of the Arab Slave Trade, the longest lasting and most extensive slave trade in history - and the most brutal too.

[chavdarnaidenov]

If everything is slavery, what is not?

[bts]

People don’t know how to use their free time constructively here in America… most seem to pivot towards mindless activities rather constructive activities.

[ericrobinson]

This is twice in a year I've had to refer back to this excellent discussion!

[gemthomas]

@48:00 corporation credited money to plantation owners to startup plantation and then they bought the products of the plantation... Ami understanding that correct? My question is why does he lol?

[heathers.]

Jennifer Morgan: "Both numeracy and race thinking shaped and were shaped by the social and cultural processes that attended their use. Neither are fixed or static tools but together the forged rationalized meaning through the interplay of the supposed logic of calculus and the alchemy of race-making.

[alst]

I read and think about political science and other social sciences every day. I didn’t understand almost anything said, because I don’t work in a “critical” school tradition. This is a problem: if you are only able to explain yourself to others from the same academic background, you are working in a bubble.

[KCavan]

Slavery is an African story. It's interesting that American's assume it's all about them, when they were just a chapter in a much longer history. Narcissism & guilt, a potent mix.

[chrismakoundoul]

This was very good!👏🏾
The initial question, how come racism as part of the slavetrade became a part of the development of the global capitalist system and the prerequisite for industrialization?
Very interesting 🤔