Centre for the Study of the Literatures and Cultures of Slavery

The Centre for the Study of the Literatures and Cultures of Slavery (CLCS) connects a series of research initiatives related to modern (1440-) forms of slavery and their past and present repercussions across continents. The centre has three main areas of inquiry: 1) The relationship between slavery and cultural production in the colonial world. The manufacture, circulation and reception of these products in the colonial world and the cultural expressions of the schism between the establishment of ‘universal’ rights in Europe and ongoing colonial slavery. 2) The processing of the memory and inheritance of slavery in its different forms in contemporary art and literature especially in relation to contemporary structures of diaspora and of racism in Europe and elsewhere. 3) Different cultural and literary reflections and interventions in relation to contemporary forms of slavery and slavery-like exploitation globally, including both surviving forms of ‘traditional’ slavery and new forms of exploitation generated by a globalized economy.