Slavery is one of humanity's most ancient and persistent inequities. It predates the rise of civilization, played a key role in the growth of Western and Islamic cultures and was an integral part of the emergence and global spread of capitalism. Given its historical significance, it is not surprising that the problem of slavery is still passionately debated today and that modern-day trafficking and forced servitude remain key issues of public concern.
 
In Enslavement: Past and Present, historical sociologist Orlando Patterson casts a wide net to examine the social, political, and economic complexities of slavery across different eras and societies. Patterson examines slavery at several levels of abstraction, from micro-level relations of domination to the macro-structures of entire societies. Building on the 'bundle of rights' perspective, he reevaluates the definition of slavery, exposing its variegated fabric of iniquities across tribal and advanced pre-modern societies as well as our modern globalized age. Patterson also examines the critical role of women in the history of slavery, the significance of manumission in the formation of Christian doctrine, and the devastating toll of genocide and undaunted revolt of slaves in Jamaican slave society. Concluding with an investigation of contemporary slavery and other forms of servitude, this book urges readers to reckon with the brutal legacies of the past and its alarming modern-day persistence.
 
Enslavement: Past and Present deepens our understanding of the broad spectrum of evil and human bondage throughout history, an understanding that is essential for contemporary struggles to build a more inclusive society for all.

Orlando Patterson is John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous books including Slavery and Social Death (1982) and Freedom in the Making of Western Culture (1991), which won the 1991 National Book Award for Non-Fiction. His most recent publications include The Cultural Matrix: Understanding Black Youth and The Paradox of Freedom: A Biographical Dialogue (co-authored with David Scott).

Introduction
 
Part 1. The Nature and Study of Slavery
1. On the Institution of Slavery and its Consequences
2. Revisiting Slavery and Property as a 'Bundle of Rights'
3. Beyond 'Slave Society': The Structural Articulations of Slavery in Pre-Capitalist and Capitalist Social Formations
4. The Denial of Slavery in Contemporary American Sociology
Part 2: Slavery in the Pre-Modern and Early Christian Worlds
5. The Origins of Slavery and Slave Society: A Critique of the Nieboer-Domar Hypothesis and Case Study of Ancient Athens
6. The Social and Symbolic Uses of Slavery in Ancient Rome and Early Christianity
 
Part 3. Slavery in the Modern World
7. Slavery and Slave Revolts: The Maroon Slave Wars of Jamaica 1655-1739
8. Slavery and Genocide: Jamaica, the U.S. South and the Historical Sociology of Evil
 
Part 4. Slavery Today
9. Trafficking, Modern-Day Slavery and other Forms of Servitude in Present Times