Money, Slavery and Political Change in Precolonial West Africa

该项目汇集了殖民前西非历史的两个重要方面，迄今为止，这两个方面一直被单独分析。它将新的泛大西洋视角放在奴隶制和非洲移民的历史上，以及关于连接西非和大西洋世界的货币的新档案数据，为非洲和世界历史中经济不发达的历史提供了一种新的方法：核心论点是，反式-大西洋奴隶贸易和17世纪至19世纪连接非洲和世界经济的货币构成了同一经济结构的一部分，这导致了前殖民地西方的不发达。非洲：自1960年代以来，历史学家一直把跨大西洋贩卖奴隶的历史作为塑造殖民前西非历史的一个关键因素，并就贩卖奴隶是否扩大了西非本身的奴隶制形式进行了重要讨论（Rodney，1966年; Fage，1969年;洛夫乔伊，1983年）。与此同时，经济历史学家详细研究了殖民前西非的货币历史，以及货币进口和货币使用如何反映社会和经济变化，这些变化也将非洲与世界经济联系起来（Adebayo，1994; Guyer，2004; Hogendorn/约翰逊，1986; Hogendori，2007;洛夫乔伊，1974）。然而，到目前为止，还没有系统的分析奴隶制的历史和货币的历史是如何相互依存的，反映了殖民前西非政治变革的关键方面，这种变革创造了本土的经济和政治结构，这些结构面临着世纪末殖民主义的兴起。因此，PI的关键假设是，对奴隶制历史和奴隶制出现的分析，如果把奴隶制和货币历史放在一起分析，西非经济不发达的情况就更加明显。在早期的大西洋经济体中，被奴役的非洲人被用作货币和信贷形式，（cf Newson/Minchin 2007; Newson 2013），将跨大西洋奴隶贸易理解为造成不发达的经济复合体的一部分，可以为理解非洲和世界的经济变革进程做出真实的贡献;这一重点还揭示了经济模式和跨文化交流之间的联系。与此同时，关于奴隶制历史上泛大西洋移民的新证据（Barcia，2014年; Barcia，2013年; Ferreira，2012年;绿色，2012年）显示了奴隶制、种族主义和经济差异的历史如何提供密切的相关性：直到17世纪40年代，种族刻板印象还不普遍，正如阿尔伯特·埃克豪特在巴西为刚果大使所作的肖像画所表明的那样，这种刻板印象的出现伴随着1660年后大西洋奴隶经济从西非的迅速扩张（Gikandi 2011）。自上次详细讨论非洲货币历史以来，新发现的档案数据和理论进展可以建立在该领域的新方向上。新制度经济学对信任的关注在很大程度上建立在非洲的例子上（Cohen 1971; Greif 1993）。在荷兰大西洋的背景下，Nimako和Willemsen（2011）确实认为，奴隶贸易需要部分通过世界经济史的透镜来看待;同时，关于前殖民地北方尼日利亚奴隶制的研究表明，奴隶在19世纪被用作一种货币形式（Hogendorn 1977）。因此，将非洲奴隶制和经济变革的历史联系起来，可以为核心领域做出重要贡献。因此，该项目使PI能够加强其出版物（绿色2011; 2012; 2016）所发挥的领导作用。这种领导力将通过指导博士后研究人员进行支持该假设的具体案例研究来进一步巩固;与Ecobank和OCR A Level考试委员会一起举办公共影响事件;并在巴西组织学术研讨会，并在美国和英国组织讨论小组。

This project brings together two vital aspects of precolonial West African history which hitherto have been analysed separately. It places new pan-Atlantic perspectives on the history of slavery and the African diaspora alongside new archival data on the currencies linking West Africa and the Atlantic world, to offer a new approach to the history of economic underdevelopment in African and world history: the core argument is that the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the currencies linking African and world economies from the 17th to the 19th centuries formed part of the same economic structure which led to underdevelopment in precolonial West Africa.Since the 1960s, historians have focussed on the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a key factor in shaping the history of precolonial West Africa, with important discussions as to whether the slave trade expanded forms of slavery in West Africa itself (Rodney 1966; Fage 1969; Lovejoy 1983). Meanwhile, economic historians looked in some detail at the history of currencies in precolonial West Africa, and at how currency imports and currency-use reflected social and economic changes also linking Africa and the world economy (Adebayo 1994; Guyer 2004; Hogendorn/Johnson 1986; Inikori 2007; Lovejoy 1974). Yet until now, there has been no systematic analysis of the way in which the history of slavery and the history of currency were interdependent, reflecting key aspects of precolonial West African political change which created the indigenous economic and political structures which faced the rise of colonialism in the late 19th century.The PI's key hypothesis is therefore that the analysis of both the history of slavery and of the emergence of economic underdevelopment in West Africa emerges more clearly if slavery and currency histories are analysed together. Where enslaved Africans were used as forms of currency and credit in early Atlantic economies (cf Newson/Minchin 2007; Newson 2013), understanding the trans-Atlantic slave trade as part of the economic complex which contributed to underdevelopment can make a real contribution to understanding processes of economic change both in Africa and in the world; such a focus reveals also how economic patterns and cross-cultural exchange were connected. Meanwhile, new evidence on pan-Atlantic diasporas in the history of slavery (Barcia 2014; Candido 2013; Ferreira 2012; Green 2012) show how histories of slavery, racism, and histories of economic divergences offer close correlations: where racial stereotypes were not universal as late as the 1640s, as the portraits of Kongolese ambassadors by Albert Eckhout in Brazil make clear, the emergence of such stereotypes went with the rapid expansion of the Atlantic slave economy from West Africa after 1660 (Gikandi 2011).The new archival data found -- and theoretical advances made -- since African currency history was last debated in detail can build on new directions in the field. New institutional economics' focus on trust builds heavily on African examples (Cohen 1971; Greif 1993). In the Dutch Atlantic context, Nimako and Willemsen (2011) have indeed argued that the slave trade needs to be viewed partly through the lens of world economic history; meanwhile, work on slavery in precolonial northern Nigeria has shown that slaves were used as a form of currency in the 19th century (Hogendorn 1977). Bridging the histories of slavery and economic change in Africa therefore can produce leading contributions to core fields.The project thus allows the PI to enhance the leadership role which their publications (Green 2011; 2012; 2016) have developed. This leadership will be further consolidated through mentoring a postdoctoral researcher working on a specific case study that supports the hypothesis; staging public impact events alongside Ecobank and the OCR A Level examination board; and organising an academic colloquium in Brazil, and discussion panels in the USA and the UK.