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Slavery and the past are interconnected; there is a tension between a former time of human subjugation and the time after when that captivity can still be remembered. In a sense, this volume probes this seeming contradiction, the glory of freedom's release and the tension with a past when freedom was denied. It also argues that the existence of slavery, in modern forms, today offers continuing evidence of man's inhumanity to man—and the resulting absence of freedom for millions of people.

This book examines slavery, an antiquated, ugly, inhumane practice, seemingly abolished in the nineteenth century, yet never eradicated. The legacies of historical slavery have become increasingly subject to public debate, manifested in calls for reparations, the UNESCO Slave Route Project, and in the dismantling of Confederate monuments in the United States. NGOs have researched and publicized the extent of contemporary slavery, which some of the essays in this collection discuss. This area of inquiry intersects with wider debates about the legacies of colonialism and structural racism—which could be seen in the Rhodes Must Fall campaigns in South Africa and Oxford. NGOs estimate that there are between 21 and 46 million slaves worldwide today. The essays gathered here critically examine the historical roots of slavery, the issue of reparations, and deconstruct contemporary human trafficking.