Voluntary Slavery and the Meaning of Slavery

Abstract For most scholars of slavery, the pairing of the terms ‘voluntary’ and ‘slavery’ remains problematic. The dominant model of slavery defines it as an involuntary status, in which people—according to the liberal model of ownership—were reduced to ‘things’, able to be used, abused and even killed at will. However, this involuntary model is a modern creation, developed by abolitionists from the eighteenth century. Prior to this, being owned did not necessarily involve being reduced to a ‘thing’; as a result, the decision to enter ownership voluntarily did not carry the same weight of contradiction. In this article I show that as the idea of slavery as involuntary was consolidated, so the rhetorical and critical value of ‘voluntary slavery’ as the ultimate oxymoron rose to the fore. In the process, however, the exploitation of those who agreed to submit themselves to others was downplayed.