Introduction of Capitalism and Slavery
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0259.2025.e105621Keywords:
Translation, Capitalism, Slavery, Eric WilliamsAbstract
Eric Williams' book Capitalism and Slavery, originally published in 1944, is an indispensable reference for studying the relationship between modern slavery and the advent of industrial capitalism. The work has been an important inspiration for the study of the socio-historical formation of Brazil, marked by more than 300 years of the slave mode of production, and has gained renewed interest since the publication of the book translated by Companhia das Letras in 2012. Eighty years after its original publication, we consider it important to reinforce the context in which the work was produced through a text still unpublished in Portuguese: the introduction to the English edition of the work published in 1994 by the University of North Carolina Press. Through Williams' correspondence, Palmer captures the tensions surrounding the publication of the book that, without a doubt, became a classic in the study of the relationship between the colonial power and the colonies.
References
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