The Saharan Studies Association proposes a panel focusing on slavery, demographics, and cultural change across the Sahara and North Africa. We wish to explore the rich implications of slavery demographics to interpret societal change at a number of levels. Relatively little work has been done tracing the ebbs and flows of slave populations, or how these population changes affected economic and market dynamics, cultural production and reproduction, shifting notions of identity, or local interpretations of Islam. Scholars of the Atlantic slave trade have highlighted the significance and demographic implications of slavery, using innovative combinations of sources. By marked contrast, the demography of slavery and the slave trade in the trans-Saharan context remains a relatively less-developed, but important, branch of historical endeavor.

This panel seeks to critically address the demographics of slavery across the Sahara and North Africa by focusing on historical processes that involved the broader stratum of these enslaved populations, including servile groups who became part of—or created—diaspora societies. In this context, historical developments over the late eighteenth through the twentieth centuries provide opportunities to compare and contrast the experiences of enslaved populations of sub-Saharan descent across the Sahara and North Africa. We especially welcome innovative perspectives on sources, methodology, and interpretation.

If you would like to participate in the panel, please submit your paper’s abstract by March 7th, 2005.

Note: ASA regulations require that all panelists must have their dues and registrations paid by March 15th, 2005.

For more information, please contact: