Servitude in Modern Times (Themes in History)
Publisher: Polity Press
Published: October 1, 2000
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 304
ISBN-13: 9780745617305
Subjects: Slavery & emancipation; Social & cultural anthropology; Social history; Slavery; Labor & Industrial Relations - General; History; Biography & Autobiography; Politics / Current Events; Serfdom; History: World; Modern - General; PROGRESS; Political Science / Labor & Industrial Relations; SLAVERY_HISTORY; Historical - General; Social Science; Penology; Forced labor; Indentured servants
First sentence: Modern servitude came in five basic forms: slavery, serfdom, indentured service, debt bondage and penal servitude.
Description: "Servitude in Modern Times concentrates on the forms of servitude that figured in the process of early modernization. M.L. Bush argues against the standard, neo-abolitionist view that the servile were powerless victims, proposing that, in most cases, they ingeniously succeeded in acquiring rights and liberties. He shows how servitude contributed to the modernizing process by compensating for the shortage of waged labour which was frequently encountered by early capitalism. In this respect the book challenges the progressiveness with which modernization has normally been depicted." "Servitude in Modern Times will be of great interest to students and scholars in history, politics and sociology, as well as to a general public horrified by man's inhumanity to man."--Jacket.