Subjugation and Bondage: Critical Essays on Slavery and Social Philosophy

What is wrong with slavery? Can it ever be justified? Subjugation and Bondage is a fascinating and wide-ranging collection of recent essays that address a variety of moral concerns regarding slavery as an institutionalized social practice. Included are novel interpretations of ancient and early modern philosophers as well as explicit comparisons between the arguments given by former slaves and certain political theories that may have influenced them. Essays on contemporary issues critically examine the source of an ambivalence toward slavery that can be found in the liberal tradition, and the authors discuss the issues with an eye toward concerns for gender, race, and class.