posted on 2023-02-23, 11:36authored byDeborah Toner, Estherine Adams, Kellie Moss
The transition from slavery to freedom in British Guiana was a gradual process, taking place through a period of apprenticeship for the formerly enslaved which came into effect in 1834. Emancipation produced a series of rapid challenges for the colonial state as it attempted to retain dominance over ex-slaves without the extensive coercive powers that had been allowed under slavery. The introduction of indentured labourers from 1835 further added to these complexities as workers from India, China, Portugal, and Africa generated significant flows of migrants to the region. In this post-emancipation period, the colonial state expanded its powers through the establishment of new laws and institutions of confinement to consolidate its control over an ethnically diverse population. This article interrogates the ways in which punishment and coercive techniques were part of both larger imperial calculations and broader political, economic, and cultural shifts in the colony.
Funding
This paper is based on research conducted for the ESRC-funded project Mental Health, Neurological and Substance Abuse (MNS) Disorders in Guyana’s Jails: 1825 to the present day (award no. ES/S000569/1). This project is a collaboration between the University of Guyana and the University of Leicester, in partnership with the Guyana Prison Service.
History
Citation
Moss, K., Adams, E. and Toner, D., 2022. Immigration, Intoxication, Insanity, and Incarceration in British Guiana. Slavery & Abolition, 43(4), pp.705-729.
Author affiliation
School of History
Version
VoR (Version of Record)
Published in
Slavery and Abolition: a journal of slave and post-slave studies
The article is going to be published via Route 1 of the UKRI’s open access framework (or Gold OA) – ie the version of record will be made immediately open access upon publication on the journal’s website – under the University’s Transitional ‘Read and Publish’ Agreement with Taylor & Francis. 5.9.2022