‘Slavery and Post-slavery in Modern African History’ Conference, Tanzania, 2023

AFRAB’s researchers contributed to the scientific organisation of the major international conference ‘Slavery and Post-slavery in Modern African History’ hosted by the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 7-9 November 2023. AFRAB co-funded the conference by sponsoring the participation of about 40 African researchers who gave presentations on their ongoing research carried out in the framework of AFRAB in a stream of ten panels that ran across the conference’s programme. This event was AFRAB’s largest conference and main research dissemination event.

In association with this large conference, AFRAB held an internal research workshop at the Jangwani Seabreeze Hotel on 6 November 2023. French-English and English-French simultaneous translation was provided. The purpose of the 6 November meeting was to have a collective discussion on the main sources collected by researchers in all the national teams. Each researcher presented specific texts and other forms of evidence that they had identified in the course of their research, and addressed the following three questions:

1. Why have you selected this particular text and author?
2. Would you say that the anti-slavery message contained in the selected text is an example of abolitionism? Would you define the author of this text as an abolitionist? If yes/no, why.
3. What, in your view, distinguishes the thought of this author? Does the text you selected reveal a particular antislavery approach that is distinctive of this author’s engagement, and can you give examples of his/her distinctive approach?

The meeting was attended by some of Africa’s leading contemporary abolitionists. They were invited to share their thoughts about the researchers’ work and say whether they saw themselves as heir to the ideas and strategies that were discussed in the research presentations; or to the contrary, whether they thought they shared little, if anything, with the historical abolitionists whose work had been introduced. The human rights activists also presented their activities at a plenary round-table on the final day of the UDSM conference.

Please click on the link below for the programmes of the conference and internal workshop:

Photo credit: Apsatou Bagaya (niger)