desertification of Mauritania tended to abandon their slave holdings because the depletion of their herds made it difficult to feed and house slaves (Citation, DOS Report). This narrative presents slavery as a consequent of regional and economic factors such that slave owners are not necessarily Arab, but are land owners.
Incongruous Narratives of Slavery and Differing Characteristics of Masters and Slaves
The three narratives posited above present three different explanations for the social conditions that begat and propagate slavery. And while narrative one and narrative two identify the main differentiating characteristic between masters and slaves as ethnic and racial, the third predominant narrative differentiates masters and slaves …show more content…
Treating and identifying young slaves as children and older slaves as elders requiring care. The same factors which instill a sense of familial relation in slave owners also inculcates slaves a feeling of membership in their owners’ family as well as religious obligation in serving faithfully. Not only is this the case, certain slave owning families ensure what can be characterized as an equitable and indistinguishable distribution of labor amongst the slave and non-slave members of the household (citation, Kevin Bales book). In such cases distribution of labor tends to be gendered with both slave and slaver women maintaining the household and slave and slaver men engaging in manual labor (citation, Kevin Bales book). What is also startling about this slave society is that slaves tend not to be physically restrained and may leave their owners household when they wish (Citation, Kevin Bales book). This is illustrated in first narrative where rather than using physical restraints, the prohibitive costs of leaving a household disincentive slaves from leaving (Citation, Kevin Bales book). One final complication in these narratives of slavery is linguistic. Religious citations which justify slavery generally use the Arabic word ‘rajul’ to describe masters and slaves. There no English …show more content…
First, most definitions of slavery do not account for the possibility of constructed kin-relations between master and slave, nor do these definitions incorporate notions of mutual obligations and equitable distributions of labor. Furthermore definitions of slavery presume physical restrictions on the mobility of slaves, however in the cause of Mauritania slaves may have the freedom of mobility and choose either due to fear of destitution or a sense of loyalty to remain with their owners. In fact a Mauritanian definition of slavery does not necessarily include physical violations of the slave by the owner or the obligation to freely provide labor. As is the case with elderly slaves, slave owners may in fact feel obligated to provide care in the absence of
Incongruous Narratives of Slavery and Differing Characteristics of Masters and Slaves
The three narratives posited above present three different explanations for the social conditions that begat and propagate slavery. And while narrative one and narrative two identify the main differentiating characteristic between masters and slaves as ethnic and racial, the third predominant narrative differentiates masters and slaves …show more content…
Treating and identifying young slaves as children and older slaves as elders requiring care. The same factors which instill a sense of familial relation in slave owners also inculcates slaves a feeling of membership in their owners’ family as well as religious obligation in serving faithfully. Not only is this the case, certain slave owning families ensure what can be characterized as an equitable and indistinguishable distribution of labor amongst the slave and non-slave members of the household (citation, Kevin Bales book). In such cases distribution of labor tends to be gendered with both slave and slaver women maintaining the household and slave and slaver men engaging in manual labor (citation, Kevin Bales book). What is also startling about this slave society is that slaves tend not to be physically restrained and may leave their owners household when they wish (Citation, Kevin Bales book). This is illustrated in first narrative where rather than using physical restraints, the prohibitive costs of leaving a household disincentive slaves from leaving (Citation, Kevin Bales book). One final complication in these narratives of slavery is linguistic. Religious citations which justify slavery generally use the Arabic word ‘rajul’ to describe masters and slaves. There no English …show more content…
First, most definitions of slavery do not account for the possibility of constructed kin-relations between master and slave, nor do these definitions incorporate notions of mutual obligations and equitable distributions of labor. Furthermore definitions of slavery presume physical restrictions on the mobility of slaves, however in the cause of Mauritania slaves may have the freedom of mobility and choose either due to fear of destitution or a sense of loyalty to remain with their owners. In fact a Mauritanian definition of slavery does not necessarily include physical violations of the slave by the owner or the obligation to freely provide labor. As is the case with elderly slaves, slave owners may in fact feel obligated to provide care in the absence of