Beyond Slavery

“A masterful piece. . . . A valuable thematic summary of postemancipation societies. . . . [It] will be widely discussed in upper-level history courses and graduate seminars, and it should also attract the interest and admiration of scholars on both sides of the Atlantic.” — Journal of Southern History

“A powerful. . . exploration of the connections between classical political economy, race, class, gender, and labor. . . . Deserves a wide readership.” — Journal of American History

“The elegant essays in this volume explore the social and political changes that took place in colonial African and New World societies after slave emancipation. . . . The authors are to be congratulated for putting together a useful and stimulating volume. Their collaborative effort not only demonstrates the utility of comparative history but provides specialists in one region a handy summary of the kinds of work being done elsewhere.” — American Historical Review

“In this collaborative work spanning from Jamaica in the 1830s to French West Africa in the 1940s, three distinguished historians in the field describe, with nuance and complexity, the cultural landscape of postemancipation societies in Africa and the Americas.” — Gulf South Historical Review

“A short review cannot do justice to the complexities within these pages. Each of the authors, for example, treats or touches on issues of gender in important ways, opening up pathways for further inquiries and research in all three sites.” — Harvard Business History Review

“Since the publication of the truly pathbreaking books by Frank Tannenbaum and Kenneth Stampp, following World War II, our understanding of New World slavery has been revolutionized by literally thousands of well-researched books and scholarly articles. Yet only a few historians have turned to serious investigations of the meaning of emancipation and the longer-term consequences of racial slavery. Frederick Cooper (for Africa), Thomas C. Holt (for the British West Indies), and Rebecca J. Scott (for Cuba and Louisiana) are the most imaginative pioneers of this scholarship. Their new collaborative work will be essential reading for everyone interested in racial slavery and its intercontinental legacies.” — David Brion Davis, Yale University

“Race, nationality, citizenship, freedom; Cooper, Holt, and Scott; big questions; accomplished scholars; innovative and compelling history. Beyond Slavery is an extraordinary book of breathtaking scope that addresses matters of signal importance.” — Ira Berlin, University of Maryland at College Park

“The essays found here fit neatly together, and the challenge they pose to postmodernist conceptions of the constitutive power of discourse engages directly with recent lively debates among historians. The book will be of great interest to everyone concerned with race, class, and modern intellectual history.” — David Montgomery, Yale University