Despite the Fear’

Emancipation Trajectories in Libya, 1890–1930

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8976207
AutoresGabriele Montalbano (0000-0002-6495-6808, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, autor correspondente)
Ano2022
Volume63
Fascículo3
Páginas400-417
Data de publicação2022-10-27
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Journal of African History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0021-8537 • E-ISSN: 1469-5138
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0021853722000573
OpenAlexW4307445403
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas36

Challenging the Eurocentric belief that abolitionism was a top-down process issued by colonial powers, this article explores the emergence of personal and group strategies for the emancipation of Black enslaved people in Libya. During the late Ottoman period, Italian antislavery activities operated in Libya and established a mission in Benghazi to host manumitted children referred to as ‘Moretti ’ (‘little Moors’). The goal was to make these Moretti a group of local people close to the Catholic Church and the Italian government. The failures of the missionaries to accomplish these aims reveal the strategies and trajectories of Moretti as they negotiated their role in society, especially after Italian occupation in 1911. Historical sources reveal an informal web of solidarity using antislavery societies and creating forms of urban and social autonomy. This article details actions of solidarity among Black enslaved persons that took place in late Ottoman and Italian colonial Libya, which challenges Eurocentric antislavery narratives

Abolitionism · Ancient history · Art · Autonomy · Bureaucracy · Colonialism · Emancipation · Government (linguistics · Literature · Moors · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Solidarity · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Gender Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law