Slavery is often considered a universal institution, shaping contemporary debates on reparations and racial justice. But what if it is not? RÔMULO EHALT explores this question through early modern Japan—a country in contact with European powers but never colonized.
Using Jesuit letters and reports, he examines how European missionaries understood slavery in Japan. His research reveals that Jesuits saw slavery not as a universal practice but as a European legal concept used to regulate labor relationships between Christians and non-Christians.
By analyzing Japan as a case study, Ehalt challenges traditional narratives of colonialism. Unlike in the Americas, where Europeans held power, Japan’s stronger local actors forced missionaries to adapt. His findings offer new insights into the spread of European legal norms and the history of slavery in the early modern world.
Using Jesuit letters and reports, he examines how European missionaries understood slavery in Japan. His research reveals that Jesuits saw slavery not as a universal practice but as a European legal concept used to regulate labor relationships between Christians and non-Christians.
By analyzing Japan as a case study, Ehalt challenges traditional narratives of colonialism. Unlike in the Americas, where Europeans held power, Japan’s stronger local actors forced missionaries to adapt. His findings offer new insights into the spread of European legal norms and the history of slavery in the early modern world.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB101191
Institution
Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory
The Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory considers its most important task to consist in engaging in theoretically reflected historical research in the field of law and other forms of normativity in order to make a specific contribution to the fundamental research in legal scholarship, the social sciences and historical humanities. The Institute’s research examines law, its constitution, legitimation, transformation and practice. Particular attention is paid to the positioning of historical forms of ‘law’ in the context of other normative orders. The establishment of a department engaged in developing a multidisciplinary legal theory in 2020 substantially expands the Institute's engagement with issues of legal theory.
Original publication
Slavery in Captivity: Location, Colonial Slavery and Early Modern Japan
Christoph Haar, ed. Slavery, Law and Religion in the Early Modern World (Leiden and Boston: Brill 2024), pp. 13-35
Published in 2024
Beyond
A Personal Reading Recommendation
