After the conquest of Banda in 1621, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) introduced the perkeniersstelsel to ensure a monopoly on nutmeg and mace. Due to the commercial nature of the spices and the...Show moreAfter the conquest of Banda in 1621, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) introduced the perkeniersstelsel to ensure a monopoly on nutmeg and mace. Due to the commercial nature of the spices and the use of slave production, the perkeniersstelsel is often compared to the Atlantic plantation system. This study traces the development of the perkeniersstelsel between 1621 and 1640 and compares it to the Atlantic plantation system. This study argues that although the VOC was attempting to develop the perkeniersstelsel in the direction of the Atlantic mode, Banda’s unique environment and the VOC’s weaknesses in accessing terrestrial resources led the system down its own path. Furthermore, it proposes that Banda slavery should be regarded as the first expansion of slavery into rural areas in Southeast Asia, rather than the first penetration of European slavery into Southeast Asia.Show less
In this thesis, Roman slaves' access to water is used as a case study for the study of Roman marginalisation. Roman slaveholders used water to marginalise slaves in two different ways: on a...Show moreIn this thesis, Roman slaves' access to water is used as a case study for the study of Roman marginalisation. Roman slaveholders used water to marginalise slaves in two different ways: on a personal level, the access to water was restricted, and on a professional level, the access to water was increased. Access to water was a power tool consciously employed by Roman slaveholders to marginalise others.Show less
The story of Iqbal Masih is intricately linked to the history of child labour and enslavement in Pakistan. Any history of the exploitation of children for labour in Pakistan is incomplete without...Show moreThe story of Iqbal Masih is intricately linked to the history of child labour and enslavement in Pakistan. Any history of the exploitation of children for labour in Pakistan is incomplete without studying the short life of Iqbal Masih, a person who has become the face of political activism against the practice of child labour in the country. Iqbal Masih was born into a Christian family in 1983 in Muridke, a city close to Lahore. Given the poverty of his family, he was put to work at the age of four to pay off mounting debts. He was sold to a local carpet weaver in return for $12 where he worked every day from dawn to dark in the hopes of paying off the debt. Like other children there, he was tied to a carpet loom with chains to prevent his escape. At the age of ten, he managed to escape the factory where he was held. With the help of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front (BLLF), a local NGO working to free children from bonded labour, who took him in and sheltered him, he enrolled in school to pursue his studies despite the physical and mental breakdown he had suffered during the years of abuse. Whilst studying, he helped in the release of about 3,000 other children from bonded labour, and travelled the world raising awareness about the problem. He hoped to become a human rights lawyer in order to better be able to fight bonded labour in Pakistan. But his life was tragically cut short on Easter day, 16 April 1995 by a gunman whilst he was visiting relatives in Muridke. His legacy remains and he has been a source of inspiration for many fighting against child and bonded labour in Pakistan and the rest of the developing world. During the 1990s there was a worldwide movement for the eradication of the worst forms of child labour with countries moving from complete denial of the problem and abject lethargy in trying to curb it towards legislation and positive action.Show less
This dissertation considers Scotland's response to the 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, in the context of memory and museum studies. It considers to what degree...Show moreThis dissertation considers Scotland's response to the 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, in the context of memory and museum studies. It considers to what degree Scotland's response was aligned to an agenda of social justice - and how Scotland is slowly 'waking up' to its slavery past during a time of revived Scottish nationalism.Show less
Papuans, a designation to inhabitants of New Guinea, show up numerous time throughout history as slaves. This lead to the designation of New Guinea as 'victim societies'. But what does that mean?...Show morePapuans, a designation to inhabitants of New Guinea, show up numerous time throughout history as slaves. This lead to the designation of New Guinea as 'victim societies'. But what does that mean? And how did slavery contribute to the experience of living in New Guinea? In this thesis I answer these questions by looking at the historical pattern that enabled Papuan enslavement,looking at the societies with a history of entanglement with slavery and furthermore noting the strategies Papuans developed to deal with the historical pattern affecting them.Show less
