Theme:
The archaeology of material culture, bodies and landscapes
Session format:
Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each
Title:
Archaeologies of Unfree Labor in Europe and the Mediterranean
Content:
Throughout most history, the subjection of people to forms of unfree and coerced labor was an important aspect of class-based societies in Europe and in the Mediterranean basin. The labor of slaves, bonded or forced workers were in many cases the main source of economic prosperity, and their bodies were the violent marker of social boundaries and modes of existence. In 'Anthropologie de L’Esclavage' (1986), Claude Meillassoux argues that people are desocialized, depersonalized, desexualized and decivilized during the process of enslavement. In the end, the subject is unable to socially reproduce itself while being assigned to economic functions. In this session we will ask: In what ways does unfree labor have a materiality, from prehistory to now? How can we use materiality to examine the different modes of unfree labor, historical transitions between unfree labor and freedom, its experiences and legacies? We welcome contributions about contexts in Europe, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, as well as case studies from around the world that are related to the legacies of colonialism and imperialism in European and Mediterranean contexts.
Keywords:
Unfree Labor, Slavery, Forced Labor
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Main organiser:
Rui Gomes Coelho (Portugal) 1
Co-organisers:
Fahri Dikkaya (Turkey) 2
Affiliations:
1. Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies, Department of Art History, Rutgers University, USA
2. Basic Sciences Unit, TED University, Turkey
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