Spring 2025 Harry ’51 and Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development Seminar Series

Abstract

The intersection of race, class and gender in the conception and design of the Atlantic Slave system continues to attract multidisciplinary research interest. The Caribbean, and the southern US colonies, provide sharp contrast in some areas but share common structural and social aspects. The presence of white women, bonded and free, was central to the roll out of chattel enslavement as a race-specific order that targeted Africans. The social interactions of white women and Africans, male and female, challenged legislators and provided the core context for continuous refinement of the rules of racial engagement. Indeed, the specific legal architecture of black enslavement (in particular the slave code) was principally a response by white males to protect property rights in production and reproduction. By defining the role and function of white women as carriers of the seed of freedom the slave based order was rendered economically sustainable.

About the speaker

Sir Hilary Beckles, eighth vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies, is a distinguished academic, international thought leader, United Nations committee official, and global public activist in the field of social justice and minority empowerment. Beckles is a 2024 Andrew D. White Professor-At-Large at Cornell University. 

He received his higher education in the United Kingdom and is professor of economic history. He has lectured extensively in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. He has published over 100 peer reviewed essays in scholarly journals and over 13 books on subjects ranging from Atlantic and Caribbean History, to gender relations in the Caribbean, sport development, and popular culture.

Beckles is president of Universities Caribbean, chair of the Caribbean Examinations Council, chair of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, and advisor on sustainable development to former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon. He was knighted by the government of Barbados. He has received numerous honorary doctorates from around the world and recently received the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace and Freedom Award.

About the seminar series

The Harry ’51 & Joshua ’49 Tsujimoto Perspectives in Global Development Seminar Series showcases innovative approaches to development with experts from around the globe. Each year, the series attracts online registrants from over 45 countries and more than 350 organizations. 

Seminars are held Wednesdays from 12:20-1:10 p.m. eastern time during the semester in 101 Bradfield Hall. Students, faculty and the general public are welcome to attend in-person or via Zoom.

The series is co-sponsored by the Department of Global Development, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, and the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management as part of courses GDEV 4961, AEM 4961, NTRES 4961, GDEV 6960, AEM 6960, and NTRES 6960.

Part of the A.D. White Professors-at-Large Program. For more information on a week of events with Sir Hilary Beckles, please visit this site.