Classical slavery and modern slavery. Inequality and difference in the thought on slavery: a comparison between ancients and moderns

Abstract

In the ambit of studies about Social Inequalities and Differences, two general positions make a meaningful contrast in relation to possible conceptions about ʺSlaveryʺ. On one hand, the notion of Slavery is opposed to the idea of ʺLibertyʺ under such a perspective that establishes an opposition based in contradiction, which also implies that Slavery is considered as an ʺInequalityʺ — in this case, a ʺRadical Inequalityʺ. On the other hand, the notion of Slavery is contrasted with the idea of Liberty in the sense of a relation between contraries, which offers the possibility to conceive Slavery merely as a ʺDifferenceʺ. This article discusses the various contrasts between the two positions, with the aim of showing the dislocation between both perspectives under Modern Colonial Slavery and of comparing it, alternatively, with the notion and practice of Slavery in the Ancient World, as well as in several systems of Slavery in Pre-Colonial Africa.