Slavery, Race and Abolition in Madagascar

Abolishing slavery in Madagascar was a project of colonial powers designed to justify their presence as a civilizing force, and the unintended consequences of their policy decisions helped shape the contours of racial identity among the Makoa and Betsileo people. This article will explore the history of this abolition and tie it to modern day descent-based discrimination in Madagascar, exploring how the preoccupations of colonial abolitionists came to define how Malagasy people conceptualize slavery and their ethnic identities today. It will also raise questions on the value of a term like slavery in a Malagasy context, by drawing on the work of Joel Quirk, and join him in questioning its discursive value. In doing so, it draws upon both primary source research of correspondence between Malagasy officials and British officials, missionary accounts and secondary sources by both anthropologists and historians. This article is aimed at both activists seeking to improve the situation of Malagasy people who are discriminated against for their alleged slave descent and at academics seeking to explore the history of Madagascar.