The legacies of British slave ownership Catherine Hall talks to Ruth

Abstract

The Legacies of British Slave Ownership project has explored the significance of slavery to Britain's history, including in the wealth it generated for industrialisation. Such research is crucial for understanding the present, given that disavowal of these legacies has been central to white British thinking. Its mapping of compensation awarded after abolition showed the widespread incidence of slave ownership across the whole of the UK. A further legacy has been the way ideas on race developed by white plantation owners still inform contemporary thinking. An important first step towards reparation is understanding and knowing what happened, and breaking the patterns of denial.