Reparations for Slavery: From Theory to Praxis

《奴隶制的赔偿：从理论到实践》将把学者和活动家联系起来，并解决奴隶制历史对当今生活的非洲裔社区的负面影响。它与“联合国非洲人后裔国际十年”的核心目标有关，特别是“打击种族主义、种族歧视和仇外心理”的愿望(这里是通过赔偿)。赔偿(或对造成的伤害进行修复)是一个古老的概念，最近重新出现在公共辩论中。2014年，加勒比共同体呼吁欧洲前殖民大国致力于他们的十点正义方案，该方案正在为奴隶制后裔的土著和非洲社区寻求赔偿。从历史上看，这些索赔与前奴隶贸易国和种植园主未能向被他们奴役的人提供赔偿有关。取而代之的是，废除奴隶制导致以前的奴隶阶级因失去他们的“劳动力”而得到丰厚的补偿，而奴隶制被新的殖民剥削制度所取代，这种制度继续使种植园主受益，却损害了被殖民民族的利益。这段历史的深远和破坏性后果仍然可以从前奴隶制社会中存在的严重社会经济失衡以及被奴役非洲人的后裔继续经历的多种形式的种族歧视和侵犯人权行为中看出。在国家和国际一级采取的承认奴隶制和奴隶贸易为“危害人类罪”的法律步骤，为寻求补救的地方、国家和跨国团体的努力提供了司法支持。尽管如此，赔偿在政治上仍然是禁忌，各国政府通常会忽视或拒绝要求，除了发表更微妙的遗憾声明外，拒绝发表正式道歉。这种在政治、社会和(直到最近)学术层面上拒绝理解赔偿的意义和潜力的做法，为这个网络提供了基本的理由。与我们在英国、法国和贝宁的机构合作伙伴合作，我们将设立一系列研讨会，将欧洲、加勒比、美国和西非的学者和草根活动人士联系起来。在现有政治和法律学术的基础上，我们将从艺术、文化、历史、哲学、心理、社会和精神角度探索多种赔偿方法。这些讲习班将为在贝宁(跨大西洋贩卖奴隶的主要地点)举行一次国际会议铺平道路，这次会议将把非洲的活动家和国际学者聚集在一起，确定更加积极和有效地处理奴隶制遗留问题的明确议程。我们的目标包括需要：通过在国际范围内将学者和活动家联系起来，促进关于赔偿的研究；解决缺乏艺术和人文研究的问题，并将其与社会科学的现有工作联系起来；评价世界各地赔偿运动的悠久历史；通过为赔偿辩论提供全球合法性和可见度，支持活动家的工作；并对关于赔偿的公共和政治(MIS)概念产生积极影响。该网络将出版共同编辑的学术卷，并创建赔偿运动的在线档案和一系列公开报告，供活动家、非政府组织、学术界、与政府有联系的团体和其他国家/国际机构使用。这些成果不仅将对学术知识作出宝贵贡献，还将支持积极分子的社会教育工作和政治活动。因此，通过将研究和行动联系起来，该网络将找到切实可行的战略，超越对赔偿的理论讨论，转向直接造福于被奴役非洲人后裔的实际行动。

Reparations for Slavery: From Theory to Praxis will connect scholars and activists and address the negative impact of the history of slavery on Afro-descendent communities living today. It is linked to the core objectives of the 'UN International Decade for People of African Descent', notably its desire 'to combat racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia' (here through reparations). Reparation (or repairing for harm done) is an ancient concept that has recently resurfaced in public debates. In 2014, the Caribbean Community issued a call upon Europe's former colonial powers to commit to their ten-point justice programme, which is seeking reparations for indigenous and African communities descended from slavery. Historically, these claims are linked to the failure of the former slave-trading nations and plantation owners to provide restitution to those they had enslaved. Instead, abolition resulted in the former slave-owning classes being richly compensated for the loss of their 'workforce', while slavery was replaced with new systems of colonial exploitation that continued to benefit plantation owners to the detriment of colonized peoples. The long-reaching and devastating consequences of this history can still be discerned in the acute socio-economic imbalances that exist in former slave-based societies, and in the multiple forms of racial discrimination and human rights violations that descendants of enslaved Africans continue to experience. Legal steps taken at national and international levels to recognise slavery and the slave trades as 'crimes against humanity' have lent judicial support to the efforts of local, national and transnational groups seeking redress. Despite this, reparations remain politically taboo, with governments having typically ignored or rejected demands, and refused to issue formal apologies beyond more nuanced statements of regret. This refusal at political, societal and (until recently) academic levels to understand the meaning and potential of reparations provides the underlying rationale for this network. In collaboration with our institutional partners in the UK, France and Benin, we will set up a series of workshops that will connect academics and grassroots activists based in Europe, the Caribbean, the US and West Africa. Building from existing scholarship in politics and law, we will explore multiple approaches to reparations from artistic, cultural, historical, philosophical, psychological, social and spiritual perspectives. These workshops will pave the way for an international conference in Benin (a primary site for the transatlantic slave trade) that will bring Africa-based activists and international scholars together to identify a clear agenda for engaging more actively and effectively with the legacies of slavery. Our aims include the need to: advance research on reparations by connecting scholars and activists on an international scale; address the lack of arts and humanities research and connect it to existing work in the social sciences; valorise the long history of reparation movements across the world; support the work of activists by providing global legitimacy and visibility to the reparation debate; and impact positively upon public and political (mis)conceptions about reparations. The network will result in the publication of a co-edited academic volume, as well as the creation of an online archive of reparation movements and a series of public reports for use by activists, NGOs, academics, government-linked groups and other national/international bodies. These outputs will not only provide a valuable contribution to academic knowledge, but will also support activists in their social and educational work and political campaigning. By connecting research and activism, this network will therefore find practical strategies for moving beyond theoretical discussions of reparations and towards real action of direct benefit to the descendants of enslaved Africans.