SFPS Postgraduate Research Workshop
Institut Français du Royaume Uni
9 November 2007
Call for Papers : Postcolonial Slavery
This year, Britain commemorates the abolition of the Slave Trade Act 200 years ago – not to be confused with the actual abolition of slavery, which did not take place until 1835. The British were thus a bit behind yet also ahead of the French who abolished slavery for the first time during the First Republic in 1794, yet reinstated it in 1802 and did not fully abolish it again until 1848.
The aim of this one-day postgraduate research workshop is to examine different forms of slavery, from the actual slave trade during the colonial empire to modern forms of slavery such as sex-slavery or ideological enslavement. How was slavery represented in discourse during the time of the empire and how is it portrayed today? How has discourse changed since the independence/departmentalization of former colonies? What other forms of slavery exist? How does the ex-colonizer deal with the topic of slavery, how does the ex-colonized deal with it? What are some of the questions and issues that arise when treating the topic of slavery? What is the legacy of slavery, both in the metropole and the ex-colonies?
The workshop aims to bring together as many different perspectives on as many different forms of slavery as possible. Some themes may include, but are not restricted to:
* Literary enslavement (enslaved to certain traditions)
* Psychological enslavement (doctrines, behavior, etc.)
* Modern-day slavery (sex-trade, domestic labor, etc.)
* Theoretical slavery (enslaved by theoretical traditions, etc.)
* Different forms of slavery: an instrument of oppression or a socio-economic tool
* Geographically/historically specific or comparative discussion of slavery
* Discourse of slavery (then and now)
* The slave trade
* Issues of gender and race
* Representations of slavery (then and now)
* Colonial conscription
* Abolition
* The legacy of slavery (Europe/ex-colonies)
Please send proposals of no more than 250 words for 15 minute papers to Charlotte Baker and Jennifer Jahn at sfps_study_day@yahoo.co.uk by 15 July 2007.
It is anticipated that papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in Francophone Postcolonial Studies.