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Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World
Reveals that the institution of slavery was anchored in the same exploitative capitalist system which remains in place today
Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World, by Stephen Cushion, situates the crime of enslavement within the business practices that place profit before people. The institution of slavery entailed a unique combination of exploitation and expropriation anchored in patterns of conspicuous consumption by the wealthy, and intertwined with the textile, food, agriculture, construction, transportation, infrastructure and insurance industries. It was floated by the same banking and commodity trading systems that still remain today.
The exploitation of enslaved labor stimulated capitalist expansion during and after the bloody reign of the British Empire—at the cost of war, inter-imperialist rivalry, Indigenous genocide, and the murderous suppression of the rights of the enslaved. And as Cushion argues, many of the direst problems still facing the world—from horrific economic inequality to rampant environmental decline—have their origins in the institution of slavery.Correcting these wrongs will cost money. Perversely, there is no shortage of funds in the coffers of the institutions which perpetrated them. Neither Anglo governments, nor businesses, have properly addressed their role. Ultimately, Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World goes beyond cataloguing past wrongs, to engaging with the legacies of slavery, spotlighting, above all, the defiant response of those it wronged—as they call for reparations and more.
Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World, by Stephen Cushion, situates the crime of enslavement within the business practices that place profit before people. The institution of slavery entailed a unique combination of exploitation and expropriation anchored in patterns of conspicuous consumption by the wealthy, and intertwined with the textile, food, agriculture, construction, transportation, infrastructure and insurance industries. It was floated by the same banking and commodity trading systems that still remain today.
The exploitation of enslaved labor stimulated capitalist expansion during and after the bloody reign of the British Empire—at the cost of war, inter-imperialist rivalry, Indigenous genocide, and the murderous suppression of the rights of the enslaved. And as Cushion argues, many of the direst problems still facing the world—from horrific economic inequality to rampant environmental decline—have their origins in the institution of slavery.Correcting these wrongs will cost money. Perversely, there is no shortage of funds in the coffers of the institutions which perpetrated them. Neither Anglo governments, nor businesses, have properly addressed their role. Ultimately, Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World goes beyond cataloguing past wrongs, to engaging with the legacies of slavery, spotlighting, above all, the defiant response of those it wronged—as they call for reparations and more.
- GenresHistory
240 pages, Paperback
Published June 24, 2025
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