WHAT IS A SLAVE SOCIETY?  

An International Conference on the Nature 
of Slavery as a Global Historical Phenomenon.

This conference proposes to confront the question, What is a Slave Society?, by creating a space for scholars of western and non-western cultures to debate its implications from a global, cross-cultural perspective. Questions we hope to address include: What is a slave? Can we arrive at a cross-cultural definition or must we always attend to cultural difference? To what degree are slaveholding practices universal and to what degree are they culturally contingent? Is it useful to categorize certain societies as uniquely intensive in their slaveholding practices? If so, what societies can be said to fit into the category of 'slave society'? 

Conference Sponsor:

Sponsored by the University of Colorado Departments of Anthropology, Classics, and History, As well as the Center for Western Civilization, IMPART, GCAH, the Vice Chancellor’s Research Council, the Dean’s Fund for Excellence, the President’s Fund for the Humanities, the Kayden Award Committee, and the Mediterranean Studies Group.