Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa

by Paul E. Lovejoy

This history of African slavery from the fifteenth to the early twentieth century examines how indigenous African slavery developed within an international context. Professor Lovejoy discusses the medieval Islamic slave trade and the Atlantic trade as well as the enslavement process and the marketing of slaves. He considers the impact of European abolition and assesses slavery's role in African history. The book corrects the accepted interpretation that African slavery was mild and resulted in the slaves' assimilation. This new edition incorporates recent research, revised statistics on the slave trade demography, and an updated bibliography.

Genres: History, Africa, Nonfiction, Politics, Sociology

367 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

"Paul E. Lovejoy, Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of History at York University, holds the Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History and is Director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples. He is the author or editor of numerous volumes on the African diaspora." -from Bloomsbury Publishing website

Reviews

[The Academic Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a detailed academic reading on slavery in Africa, well, there it is! Lovejoy's writing style is enjoyable to read and highly detailed. I have particularly appreciated his exposition of slavery in the Sahel region. Still, the book seems conceived for an audience who already has some knowledge of Africa's medieval and Modern history, and if you're not one of those, consider reading it jointly with a book on these subjects; otherwise, you might get easily confused. A nice job in general, but not particularly suited for the general public.

[Mwanafunzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Updated with a third edition in 2011, this book remains a touchstone in the historiography. It is a major work of synthesis that tries to account for the most significant internal and external forces that impacted the development of slavery in Africa. Lovejoy splits his evaluation of this development broadly into three time periods: (i) 15th/16th century (ii) 17th/18th century (iii) 19th century. Central to Lovejoy’s formulation is a Marxist-infused "slave mode of production," a triumvirate of sorts
that included (i) the process of enslavement, (ii) the slave trades, and (iii) the use of slaves within African societies. Lovejoy argues that European slave traders largely followed the patterns of Islamic traders who had run the trans-Saharan trade for centuries prior. In brief, the results of this process were substantial damage to traditionally kinship-based societies, the mass exodus of millions of people from the continent, and the mass importation of nonhuman commodities which greatly affected societies therein. For A LOT MORE DETAIL, consult the book.

[Barbara G. Marthal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the read to understand slavery through the eyes of its participants both master and slave. Helps to study the subject within the context of time and not through the eyes of 21st century moralist.

[AskHistorians]

Attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of the institution of Slavery in Africa, from the Islamic slave trade and the Atlantic Slave Trade to African domestic slavery. Notable for Lovejoy's critique that African domestic slavery was not as mild as previous generations of scholars had thought.

[Sasha (bahareads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Lovejoy says in his second edition preface that transformations in African slavery were inevitable but whether they were internal or external is not the main issue. The main issue is how they influenced the course of African history. However, Lovejoy’s main argument throughout Transformations of Slavery is how the transformations in African slavery occurred from outside influences. In studying the changes, Transformations of Slavery show the “pervasiveness of slavery in African history and the significance of the transition that occurred under colonialism.”

Lovejoy claims to differ from other scholars with his belief that outside influences had such a significant impact on African society and the economy. I wish Lovejoy had named some of the main scholars whose belief he opposed. Not being familiar with the historiography of African slavery, I would have appreciated being able to look up see other scholars in the area of the subject. I do wonder why the opposite theory has so much more traction than Lovejoy’s theory. I think Lovejoy does a great job of showing how the European influence caused the expansion and transformations of African slavery.

The claim for the transformations of slavery in Africa evolving “as a form of colonialism” is something that struck me deeply. Lovejoy says carrying enslaved Africans to “become the population of European colonies of the Americas” has never occurred to me as a form of colonialism. Colonialism can take many forms and being mainly economic in nature it should have been obvious to me before, but it wasn’t. The tragedy of it may be lack of emphasis on how the slave trade itself was so economically fueled and the influence of capitalism on it.

Repetition causes Lovejoy to repeat the same points again and again through Transformations of Slavery. For example, I could recite word for word that external demand for slaves and rivalry between African states directly affected the spread of slavery. The argument is a part of the main thesis in this book but by chapter six I wrote in my notes, he say this exact thing numerous times. Of course, Transformations in Slavery looks at the bigger picture in the beginning chapters and then breaks it down throughout the book in the later chapters but as a reader, I was being pounded over the head.
Lovejoy claims the domestic demand for slaves was probably larger than the external demand as he says “The vicissitudes of the export trade has been the growth of an internal market for slaves…the number of people who were bought and sold was considerable, which indicates that the supply of slaves was maintained and indeed augmented.” The idea of the African demand for slaves being larger than the European one does not help to prove Lovejoy’s main theory, in my opinion. Unless it is the external demand helped increased the internal demand of slaves? Lovejoy doesn’t make clear why the domestic demand would have been larger except to claim that the plantation sector on the East African coast would have played a part in the domestic demand.

Slavery redefining frontiers within Africa show that borders are ever-shifting throughout the world. People are constantly redefined as friends or enemies within regions, political insecurity and illegal activities help move borders around. Slavery has had a lasting impact on the formation of Africa and the world. Paul Lovejoy shows how the transformations in slavery affected the African people, and the world. Transformations in Slavery is a well-written, well-researched book.

[Andrea Cipollini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despitr being a really professional book, i found It to lacks of crucial aspects that explain slavery keypoints very Well. I didnt like text organization also.

[Isaiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This text is so incredibly vital in comprehending slavery as a social institution and mode of production. Its breadth and expansiveness is unparalleled in scope allows to traverse time and space across the African continent, exploring the various aspects of slavery from The Cape, Asante, Sudan, Zanzibar, Angola, the Congo Basin, and numerous other regions and societies.

The text's indispensability is best exemplified by the following quote in the concluding chapter:

One aspect of the history of slavery and abolition should be readily apparent. Those who focus on slavery in the Americas without reference to slavery in Africa have neglected a major problem in the history of Africans.

What must also be mentioned is that the utilization of Marxist analysis. To my knowledge, no other book employs this lens in such a vast array of slave societies in Africa. Therefore, Lovejoy (once again) is at the forefront in this regard.

[Ronando: I Stand With Palestinians · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly detailed account of slavery from the perspective of Africa. It has way more detail than anyone could ask for, at times too much. But is quite the education of what went on in Africa in ghettos 16th - 19th centuries.

[Louis · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The economic costs of the slave trade in African economies and societies were severe, despite Eltis’
interpretation to the contrary” (Lovejoy, 1989). Lovejoy concluded there was
no economic advantage in importing slaves.

[Debora Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very long and tedious. Not what I was looking for...

[Monica Veronesi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un saggio dettagliato e davvero interessante.

[Ayesha Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

An astounding abundance of information relating to historic slavery in Africa. Sometimes an overbearing read with so much information given but not necessarily a bad thing.

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has a good bibliography. Newer edition is the same as 2nd edition.

[Celine Johnson]

love it