Legacies of slavery research project

The History Faculty welcomes the opening up of a debate on the legacies of slavery for the University of Cambridge.

The commissioning of a two year research-led inquiry into the Atlantic slave trade and other forms of coerced labour will provide an opportunity for us to understand better the economic contributions enforced labour made to the University, along with many other institutions of British society. Clarifying and contextualising the intellectual justifications that were offered at the time for slavery will be an important additional strand to this research. These are topics of urgent interest, that can inform today’s campaigns for acknowledgement, apology and reparation. ‘Decolonising the curriculum’ is a powerful and active demand that our students and staff are actively engaged in https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/alumni/newsletter-sept-2018. We look forward to participating in this conversation which joins many others on this topic already afoot across the university and which will need to be part of a sustained long-term effort.

Read more:

https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-university-launches-inquiry-into-historical-links-to-slavery