Profitability and economic rationality of slavery in a historical perspective

International conference organized by the Department of Historical Studies of the University of Turin in collaboration with Luigi Einaudi Foundation

PROGRAMME
DAY 1 – 20 March, 2024
2:30-3:00 pm G. Cuniberti (Univ. of Turin), Welcome
E. Devecchi and M. Valente, Introduction to the Topic of the Conference
Session 1 – Chair: De Martino (Univ. of Turin)
3:00-4:00 PM Scheidel (Univ. of Stanford), Keynote: Price and Prejudice: the Valuation and Profitability of Enslavement in Comparative Perspective
4:00-4:30 PM coffee break
4:30-5:00 PM S. Richardson (Oriental Institute, Chicago), Trafficking, Valuation, Instrument: Slave Bodies at the Intersection of Forms of Exploitation
5:00-5:30 PM E. Devecchi (Univ. of Turin), Slavery in Kassite Babylonia and its Socio-Economic Implications
5:30-6:00 PM M. Viano (Univ. of Turin), Degrees of Dependency in Late Bronze Age Emar: Some Aspects

DAY 2 – 21 March, 2024
Session 2 – Chair: N. Luraghi (Univ. of Oxford, Director of Studies of the THP Research Cycle Slavery, ethnicity and race in the Mediterranean. Ideas and attitudes from Homer to Columbus)
9:30-10:00 AM E. Karev (Turin Humanities Programme, Fondazione 1563 per l’Arte e la Cultura, Compagnia di San Paolo), Comparative Pricing of Slaves and Other Commodities in Egypt from the New Kingdom to the Ptolemaic Period (c. 1200–30 BC)
10:00-10:30 AM M. Valente (Univ. of Eastern Piedmont), Slaves as Fixed Capital in Ancient Greece
10:30-11:00 AM D. Marchiandi (Univ. of Turin), Female Slavery in Classical Athens
11:00-11:30 AM coffee break
11:30-12:00 AM K. Vlassopoulos (Univ. of Crete), Were There Ancient Equivalents of the Early Modern Slave Plantation of Commercial Agriculture?
12:00-12:30 AM M. Balbo (Univ. of Turin), Slave Trade in the Roman Republic: Cheap Labour or Luxury Good?
Session 3 – Chair: E. Belligni (Univ. of Turin)
2:30-3:00 PM A. Fiore (Univ. of Turin), Slavery and Economic Structures in the Carolingian Period (750 c – 900 c)
3:00-3:30 PM P. Delpiano (Univ. of Turin), The Foundations of Pro-Slavery Thought in the Age of Enlightenment
3:30-4:00 PM coffee break
4:00-4:30 PM L. Kamel (Univ. of Turin), Slavery and “The Man of His Time”
4:30-5:00 PM  A. Tuccillo (Univ. of Turin), The Cost of Slavery in the 18th Century Antislavery Debate

DAY 3 – 21 March, 2024
Session 4 – Chair: S. Bellezza (Univ. of Eastern Piedmont)
9:30-10.00 AM F. Motta and F. Bonansea (Univ. of Turin), Slavery, Economy, Nature in 18th-Century Debates
10:00-10:30 AM V. Fusari (Univ. of Turin), The Maid Trade: Working and Life Trajectories from the Horn of Africa to the Gulf States (20th and 21st Centuries)
10:30-11:00 AM M. Flamigni (Scuola Normale of Pisa), Manumission in the Age of Emancipation. Practices of Freedom in the Caribbean Space (1807-1868)
11:00-11:30 AM coffee break
12:30-12:00 AM C. Bernardi (Univ. of Perugia) “The Slaves We Rent”: Questioning the Legacy of Enslavement for Mexican Labor in XX Century USA
12:00-12:30 AM E. Devecchi and M. Valente, Concluding Remarks