The migration-slavery nexus in contemporary Gambian Soninke society: questioning spatial and social mobility

How do we understand Africa’s historical systems of slavery and the enduring political, economic and cultural consequences for Africa today? After abolition, did former masters maintain their privileges? Did former slaves and their descendants resist continued marginalization? How did former masters and formers slaves reconfigure their relations with one another? The essays in this volume offer biographical sketches of both masters and slaves to analyze the consequences of decolonization and democratization on former master-slave relations. They examine the history and anthropology of specific places and cultural practices, memories and silences for what they reveal about contemporary legacies. These essays illuminate slavery as an integral part of Africa’s past and powerful emotions elicited among Africans to this day.