Postgraduate Course: Capitalism and Slavery (PGHC11621)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | What was the relationship between capitalism and slavery? This question has been at the heart of extended debates among scholars going back to the 1940s and continuing today. This course allows students to gain a strong understanding of these debates, including works by scholars within the 'Black Radical Tradition' or Black Marxism; Black Feminist scholars; the 'New History of Capitalism' school; as well as those who suggest that capitalism developed independently from slavery. |
| Course description |
The relationship between capitalism and slavery is often hotly contested in public debate. Many argue that capitalism could only have developed through the exploitation of enslaved Africans, while others suggest that slavery made only a marginal difference. In this course we will rigorously investigate the claims made by those who take up multiple positions within this debate. Starting with the work of Black scholars who were the first to raise the question of this relationship, we'll consider the different ways in which the relationship between capitalism and slavery has been framed, whether in purely economic terms, or in relation to the development of forms of rule and resistance, identities, gender relations, and other axes of power. Should capitalism and slavery be understood as distinct but related phenomena, or is Atlantic slavery better understood as part of the growth of capitalism? Does the concept of 'racial capitalism' help explain the way in which capitalism has developed? And what do historians and others mean by these terms, anyway?
This course involves intensive reading of substantial historical texts, which students will be invited to relate to specific case studies.
The study of History inevitably involves the study of difficult topics that we encourage students to approach in a respectful, scholarly, and sensitive manner. Nevertheless, we remain conscious that some students may wish to prepare themselves for the discussion of difficult topics. In particular, the course organiser has outlined that the following topics may be discussed in this course, whether in class or through required or recommended primary and secondary sources: economic exploitation, racist language, racial violence, sexual exploitation and violence, ethnic stereotyping. While this list indicates sensitive topics students are likely to encounter, it is not exhaustive because course organisers cannot entirely predict the directions discussions may take in tutorials or seminars, or through the wider reading that students may conduct for the course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
90 %,
Practical Exam
10 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
1500 word review essay on one of the foundational texts and responses to it (20%)
3500 word essay on a problem agreed between the student and the course organiser, drawing on the work discussed (70%)
Non-Written Skills:
Class participation (10%) |
| Feedback |
Feedback on the review essay will provide formative feedback. Students will also be invited to discuss an essay plan for their final essay.
Students are expected to discuss their coursework with the Course Organiser at least once prior to submission, and are encouraged to do so more often. Meetings can take place with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. Students will also receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critically examine key debates within the study of the relationship between capitalism and slavery
- Demonstrate wide reading within the broad field of the history of slavery and the history of capitalism
- Plan and execute an extended piece of historical writing
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Reading List
WEB DuBois, Black Reconstruction in America: Toward a History of the Part which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruction Democracy in America, 1860-1880 (1935)
Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (1944)
CLR James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution (1937/1963)
Cedric Robinson, Black Marxism: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition (1983)
Angela Davis, Women, Race and Class (1981)
Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (1972)
David Eltis, The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas (2000)
Eugene Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1976)
Dale Tomich, et al, eds., Slavery and Historical Capitalism during the Nineteenth Century (2004)
Jennifer Morgan, Reckoning with Slavery: Gender, Kinship and Capitalism in the Early Atlantic (2021)
Sven Beckert, Empire of Cotton: A New History of Global Capitalism (2015)
Stuart Hall, Essential Essays Volumes 1 and 2 (2019) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Independent and critical thinking
Fluency of written expression
Ability to gather and deploy evidence
Ability to read widely and critically |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Diana Paton
Tel: (0131 6)50 4578
Email: Diana.Paton@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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