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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2022

Laura Murphy
Affiliation:
Sheffield Hallam University
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Summary

Despite its utterly inhumane contours, slavery is a wholly human endeavor, an exploitative relationship between an extractor of labor and a producer of labor. At the same time, as an institution endemic to capitalism’s expansion, it suffuses global systems of exchange, consumption, and desire that are so often and so ironically touted as inherently liberatory. As an expression of power and control, in the sphere of both the market and the intimate, slavery appears to have existed for all of human history and may very well continue to exist as long as humans continue to commodify labor. Indeed, despite it being considered morally reprehensible and legally illegitimate in practically every society today, slavery still infects our global supply chains, our battlefields, and our domestic spaces.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Laura Murphy, Sheffield Hallam University
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Global Literature and Slavery
  • Online publication: 15 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009070928.002
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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Laura Murphy, Sheffield Hallam University
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Global Literature and Slavery
  • Online publication: 15 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009070928.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Laura Murphy, Sheffield Hallam University
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Global Literature and Slavery
  • Online publication: 15 December 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009070928.002
Available formats
×