Book contents
- Empires of Labor
- Empires of Labor
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Labor Rules and Colonization
- Part II The Economics of Bondage
- Part III Labor Empires under Attack
- 8 Who Is the True Slave?
- 9 The Aristocratic Abolition of Serfdom in Russia
- 10 Abolition in the United States and the Great Transformation
- 11 Neo-colonialism in the Age of the Welfare State
- General Conclusion and Extrapolations
- Bibliography
- Index
8 - Who Is the True Slave?
from Part III - Labor Empires under Attack
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 November 2025
Book contents
- Empires of Labor
- Empires of Labor
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Labor Rules and Colonization
- Part II The Economics of Bondage
- Part III Labor Empires under Attack
- 8 Who Is the True Slave?
- 9 The Aristocratic Abolition of Serfdom in Russia
- 10 Abolition in the United States and the Great Transformation
- 11 Neo-colonialism in the Age of the Welfare State
- General Conclusion and Extrapolations
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Between the 1770s and the 1840s, British abolitionism moved from anti-capitalist utilitarianism to free trade. In this process, the identification of the “real slave” was crucial: Not only slave owners, but also some trade unions and workers’ associations considered the wage earner to be the real slave. This process also responded to the development of French abolitionism, which was mostly top-down and less concerned with ethics than with economic and social considerations. The profitability of slavery and the survival of the poor on the continent were constantly intertwined and helped to explain Napoleon’s restoration of slavery and the uncertainties of the 1848 revolution regarding the fate of former slaves.
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- Empires of LaborCoercion and the Making of the Modern World, pp. 185 - 218Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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