Voluntary Slavery and the Meaning of Slavery

Spicksley, Judith M.

Abstract

For most scholars of slavery, the pairing of the terms ‘voluntary’ and ‘slavery’ remains problematic. The dominant model of slavery defines it as an involuntary status, in which people—according to the liberal model of ownership—were reduced to ‘things’, able to be used, abused and even killed at will. However, this involuntary model is a modern creation, developed by abolitionists from the eighteenth century. Prior to this, being owned did not necessarily involve being reduced to a ‘thing’; as a result, the decision to enter ownership voluntarily did not carry the same weight of contradiction. In this article I show that as the idea of slavery as involuntary was consolidated, so the rhetorical and critical value of ‘voluntary slavery’ as the ultimate oxymoron rose to the fore. In the process, however, the exploitation of those who agreed to submit themselves to others was downplayed.

Citation

Spicksley, J. M. (2024). Voluntary Slavery and the Meaning of Slavery. Journal of global slavery, 9(3), 336-371. https://doi.org/10.1163/2405836X-00903012

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 11, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Nov 21, 2024
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Dec 13, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 17, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Global Slavery
• Print ISSN: 2405-8351
• Electronic ISSN: 2405-836X
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 336-371
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/2405836X-00903012
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4963526