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74367-01 - Seminar: Slavery, Capitalism and Modernity: Exploring the Connections (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Henri-Michel Yéré (h.yere@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | In this class, I would like to invite the students to engage with the debate opened by Eric Williams with his seminal 1944 publication Capitalism and Slavery, in which the Trinidad-born historian made the argument that the development of capitalism in Western Europe is the direct result of the profits made during the Triangular Trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas between the 16th and the 19th centuries. The seminar will consist in visiting a series of important texts written in response and in continuity to Williams’, and thus to explore the possibilities of this connection. The exploration of this vast debate will enable us to better shed light on the implications of these connections. To what extent does this debate influence our understanding of the contemporary international division of labour? What is the meaning of this debate in terms of the current inequalities at play in our world? What are the connections between the Transatlantic Slave Trade and racism? |
| Bibliography | Selected Bibliography: Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (London: Penguin Random House, 1944, 2022) Maxine Berg and Pat Hudson, Slavery, Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2023) Howard W. French, Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans and the making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War (New York: Liveright, 2021) Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdevelopped Africa (London: Verso, 1972, 2018) Eduardo Galeano, The Open Veins of Latin America (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1971, 1997) C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins (London: Vintage, 1938, 1989) Immanuel Wallerstein, The Capitalist World-Economy: Essays (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979) |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-täglich | Friday | 10.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 21.02.2025 | 10.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Friday 07.03.2025 | 10.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Friday 21.03.2025 | 10.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Friday 04.04.2025 | 10.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Friday 18.04.2025 | 10.15-14.00 | Ostern |
| Friday 02.05.2025 | 10.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Friday 16.05.2025 | 10.15-14.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Friday 30.05.2025 | 10.15-14.00 | Auffahrt |
| Modules |
Modul: Theory and General Anthropology (Master's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Transfer: Europa interdisziplinär (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Ungleichheit, Konflikt, Kultur (Master's degree subject: Sociology) Module: Europeanization and Globalization (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Module: Fields: Environment and Development (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Migration, Mobility and Transnationalism (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources) Specialization Module Global Europe: Work, Migration and Society (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Specialization Module Global Europe: Globalized Trade and Business (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Wahlbereich Master Geschichte: Empfehlungen (Master's degree subject: History) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Working Method The class will be structured around a series of responses written by students on the basis of texts starting out of Eric Williams’ book, and the debates generated by the many insights brought forward by this seminal work. I want to put the emphasis on reading; I conceive of this class as a reading class. The idea behind this class is for us to build knowledge around a debate which was started more than 80 years ago, as to whether it is accurate to state that the Transatlantic Slave Trade enabled the Industrial Revolution which brought about the hegemony of capitalism as a mode of production and as the main political, social and cultural engine of our times. Because I want to stress the reading aspects of this class, you will see that I have foregrounded the work of Eric Williams – in particular his book Capitalism and Slavery. I have proposed several chapters of his work for each of our sessions, for I would like that we have a good grasp of his work. I have done the same with several other works, which I believe are key to getting around our understanding of these questions. Students, individually or in groups, shall prepare a short paper of not more than 3 pages. The paper shall address one article or book chapter chosen by the student(s) and shall seek • to situate the intellectual context in which the piece has been produced (Who wrote it? When and in response to what argument?) • to summarise the main arguments made in the piece read, • to develop two questions which are left unanswered by the piece and/or which the piece invoked in you Each student is expected to give at least one presentation (as an individual or as part of a group.) The presentations are going to be short ones – not more than 10 minutes. They will be followed by groups discussions, in which we will seek to collectively deal with the questions that you would have prepared before class. The rest of the students – those who are not presenting during a given week – are invited to engage with each of the short response papers produced by their colleagues for the upcoming session. I will expect you to produce two questions per response paper. You shall send these questions to me. And you will take these questions to class with you. In class, we will work in small groups after each short presentation. Your questions will serve as a basis for the group discussions in class. The articles and chapters will be made available to you via ADAM. Our choreography will be the following: The papers will need to be in (sent to me) one week before the upcoming session. The questions on the short papers shall be sent to me during the week between reception of the short papers and the upcoming session, the deadline being the day before the session. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Soziologie |