African Abolitionism: The Rise and Transformations of Anti-Slavery in Africa (AFRAB)

Slavery was a major institution in all African regions throughout the whole of the 19th century. To date, most research has focused on colonial anti-slavery legislation and abolitionist actions. The history of African abolitionists and their struggles to end slavery remains largely undocumented. Little has been written about the localised trajectories of abolitionist ideas and strategies in Africa. The EU-funded AFRAB project aims to fill this knowledge gap. To that end, it will study how the African ruling classes, intellectuals, commoners, enslaved persons and persons of slave descent began to challenge the legitimacy of slavery for all humans within their own societies. The findings will contribute to African and global history and slavery studies by analysing and comparing African abolitionist ideas and anti-slavery movements. AFRAB is an academically-led 5-year research project funded by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and located in the History Department of University College London (UCL). The historiography of Euro-American abolitionism is so vast that it has a history of its own. By contrast, research on African abolitionism is a narrow field focused primarily on European anti-slavery activities in the colonial period. The history of African abolitionists and their struggles to end slavery in different African societies and regions is poorly understood. This constitutes a major lacuna in African and global history. The main aims of the study are: 1. To contribute to historical research on abolitionism as a global phenomenon by integrating Africa in the historiography of worldwide abolition. 2. To contribute to African history by developing a comparative analysis of the spread of abolitionism in different African regions. 3. To contribute to regional historiographies by studying the actors, networks, discourses, and institutions that advanced abolitionism in specific African countries and localities.