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Workshop: ‘Slavery, the Industrial Revolution, and Public History’

Dates
Tuesday, May 28, 2024 - 11:00 to 15:30
Location
Online

The relationship between slavery and the Industrial Revolution has long been a source of historical debate. Since the publication of Eric Williams’s landmark study Capitalism and Slavery (1944), scholars have argued over the connection between the two. More recently, Pat Hudson and Maxine Berg published Slavery, Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution (2023). Their work has reignited discussions at a moment when national history has become increasingly contested in relation to empire. As the links between the Industrial Revolution and slavery have been highlighted by historians, how has this work impacted on the public representation of the past? This workshop explored some of the latest research into slavery and the Industrial Revolution. It considerd how these interwoven histories have been interpreted within heritage and museum sites. It also looked at how this material has translated into new approaches to teaching in the classroom. This workshop was aimed at historians, students, teachers, heritage professionals, and anyone with a general interest in the subject.

Watch the sessions

WATCH: Slavery, the Industrial Revolution, and Public History - Session 1 – History Writing

WATCH: Slavery, the Industrial Revolution, and Public History - Session 2 – Public History

WATCH: Slavery, the Industrial Revolution, and Public History - Session 3 - Education

Online Workshop Programme

11:00-11:10
Introduction
11:10-12:10

Panel 1: Re-writing histories of slavery and the Industrial Revolution

  • Maxine Berg (University of Warwick), co-author of Slavery, Capitalism and the Industrial Revolution (2023)
  • Corinne Fowler (University of Leicester), author of Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain (2024).
12:10-13:10
Lunch
13:10-14:10

Panel 2: Re-interpreting the heritage of slavery and the Industrial Revolution

  • Global Cotton Connections project: Susanne Seymour (University of Nottingham) and Lisa Robinson (Bright Ideas / Slave Trade Legacies)
  • Global Threads project: Katie Vidal Belshaw (Science and Industry Museum, Manchester) and Matthew Stallard (Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, UCL)
14:10-14:20
Break
14:20-15:20

Panel 3: New approaches to teaching slavery and the Industrial Revolution

  • Robin Whitburn and Abdul Mohamud (Justice to History)
  • Black Industrial Revolution (Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery, UCL)
15:20-15:30
Closing remarks