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Europe in the African Mirror: The Slave Trade and the Rise of Feudalism

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  • Stefano Fenoaltea

Abstract

Non sono ovvie le ragioni della massiccia tratta degli schiavi dall'Africa nera: considerate la produttività e la sfruttabilità relativa del lavoro in Africa e a destinazione, e le forti perdite nella cattura e nel trasporto degli schiavi, sarebbe stato più conveniente sfruttare il lavoro in Africa che non esportarlo, e sfruttarlo con tributi piuttosto che catturarlo. Questo articolo presenta un modello degli scambi interlocali che tiene conto non solo dei vantaggi comparati ma anche dei costi di trasporto, e dimostra come può essere conveniente saldare un deficit nel commercio di beni mobili esportando schiavi, anche se localmente cari, piuttosto che beni relativamente immobili. Il modello spiega dunque la tratta degli schiavi come un equilibrio paretiano malgrado la scarsità del lavoro nella stessa Africa, e più generalmente, pertanto, la non-congruenza dei grandi flussi di emigranti liberi e non liberi; e spiega la frantumazione politica e le razzie come conseguenza, e non causa, di questo equilibrio. Questo modello sembra pure compatibile con i flussi di schiavi europei, dalla preistoria al medioevo; e non solo. Offre pure una spiegazione della disintegrazione dei regni barbari superiore a quelle attualmente disponibili: nell'alto medioevo infatti l'Occidente manifestava tutte le cause e le conseguenze (commerciali, monetarie, militari, istituzionali) del reclutamento interno di schiavi da esportare.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefano Fenoaltea, 1999. "Europe in the African Mirror: The Slave Trade and the Rise of Feudalism," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 123-166.
  • Handle: RePEc:mul:jrkmxm:doi:10.1410/9876:y:1999:i:2:p:123-166
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Whatley, Warren C., 2018. "The gun-slave hypothesis and the 18th century British slave trade," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 80-104.
    2. Broadberry, Stephen & Gardner, Leigh, 2016. "Economic Development In Africa And Europe: Reciprocal Comparisons," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(1), pages 11-37, March.
    3. Alessandro Saccal, 2021. "Fathoming Slavery: Feudalism, African Bondage, Globalisation and Beyond," International Journal of Finance & Banking Studies, Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 10(2), pages 70-78, April.
    4. Emanuele Felice, 2020. "LÕalbatros. Ricordo di Stefano Fenoaltea (The albatros. In memory of Stefano Fenoaltea)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 73(292), pages 397-407.
    5. Fenske, James & Kala, Namrata, 2012. "Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade," MPRA Paper 38398, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Madeeha Gohar Qureshi & Unbreen Qayyum & Musleh Ud Din & Ejaz Ghani, 2021. "Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson’s Notion of Exogenous Imposition of Colonial Institutions onto Colonies— A Critique in the Light of Historical Evidence," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 60(2), pages 133-152.
    7. Saccal, Alessandro, 2021. "Efficiency wage (and slavery) efficiency: in theory and in time," MPRA Paper 108969, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Wasiq N. Khan, 2022. "The Labor Productivity Differential between the West Indies and West Africa: 1680-1830," Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science, Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Torino (Italy), vol. 56(1), pages 219-242, June.
    9. Klas Rönnbäck & Dimitrios Theodoridis, 2019. "African agricultural productivity and the transatlantic slave trade: evidence from Senegambia in the nineteenth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 72(1), pages 209-232, February.
    10. Fenske, James & Kala, Namrata, 2015. "Climate and the slave trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 19-32.
    11. Giacomo Gabbuti, 2022. "Fenoaltea in the Italian Mirror: Recollections by a Student of His," Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science, Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Torino (Italy), vol. 56(1), pages 177-190, June.
    12. Gareth Austin, 2008. "The 'reversal of fortune' thesis and the compression of history: Perspectives from African and comparative economic history," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(8), pages 996-1027.
    13. Gareth Austin, 2008. "Resources, techniques, and strategies south of the Sahara: revising the factor endowments perspective on African economic development, 1500–20001," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 61(3), pages 587-624, August.

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