Wednesday 4 Nov 2015
1-2:30pm, Burnside Hall, Room 107聽
This talk forms part of the broader series 鈥淪lavery Old and New: Labour Exploitation Through the Ages and Around the Globe鈥� 鈥� a joint initiative from the ICL, McGill鈥檚 Oppenheimer Chair, and the Harriet Tubman Institute at York. This particular event is also co-organized and partially funded by the Paul-Andr茅 Cr茅peau Centre for Private and Comparative Law.聽
Cadres juridiques et pratiques 茅conomiques autour du travail servile en soci茅t茅 coloniale esclavagiste : l'exemple des Petites Antilles fran莽aises (Guadeloupe-Martinique) au XVIII e si猫cle聽
搁茅蝉耻尘茅
(English will follow)
Le propos de l'intervention sera de tenter d'茅clairer les rapports entre les cadres juridiques et les pratiques 茅conomiques du travail servile au sein de la soci茅t茅 esclavagiste coloniale des petites Antilles fran莽aises (Guadeloupe et Martinique) 脿 travers l'茅volution des r猫gles juridiques au cours du XVIIIe si猫cle et en particulier deux textes majeurs : l'茅dit royal sur la police des 卯les de l'Am茅rique fran莽aise de mars 1685 (commun茅ment appel茅 par la suite "Code Noir") et l'ordonnance du gouverneur g茅n茅ral des 卯les fran莽aises du Vent sur la "police g茅n茅rale des n猫gres et gens de couleur" de d茅cembre 1783.聽
En effet, lorsqu'on compare ces deux textes, ainsi que leurs motivations, on d茅c猫le d'une part la nature et l'ampleur de pratiques 茅conomiques d茅j脿 rep茅r茅es par les historiens (tels que G. Debien, J. Fallope, A. Perotin-Dumon, F. R茅gent, C. Oudin-Bastide) et d'autre part les modalit茅s selon lesquelles les autorit茅s coloniales tentent de les encadrer et de les r茅guler depuis le XVIIe si猫cle, avec plus ou moins de succ猫s.聽
Le tout confirme le sch茅ma g茅n茅ral d'une soci茅t茅 coloniale complexe, o霉 chaque groupe d'acteurs sociaux (diff茅rentes cat茅gories sociales d'esclaves et de propri茅taires-habitants, Etat central, ainsi que les diff茅rents types d'autorit茅s coloniales locales) d茅fend ses int茅r锚ts 茅conomiques propres dans le cadre d'une strat茅gie tr猫s fr茅quente d'茅vitement et de contournement de la loi, qui conduit 脿 la r茅affirmation r茅currente de la norme juridique, 脿 son durcissement et 脿 son adaptation, presque proportionnellement 脿 son degr茅 d'ineffectivit茅 pratique.聽
Legal Frameworks and Economic Practices Around Slave Labour in Colonial Society: The Case of the French West Indies (Guadeloupe-Martinique) in the 18th Century聽
Abstract:
This talk aims to clarify the relationship between the legal frameworks and economic practices around slave labour in colonial society of the Little French West Indies ("Petites Antilles" : Guadeloupe et Martinique) through the evolution of legal rules in the 18th century. Two enactments were particularly significant: the Royal decree ("Edit") of March 1685 regulating slavery in the French colonies (commonly referred to as the "Code Noir" or 鈥樷�橞lack Code鈥欌��) and the Decree ("Ordonnance") of the Governor General of the West Indies on the 鈥樷�檖olice g茅n茅rale des n猫gres et gens de couleur鈥欌�� of December 1783.
Indeed, by comparing the two enactments and their incentives, we notice, on one hand, the nature and magnitude of the economic practices already identified by historians (such as G. Bebien, J. Fallope, A. Perotin-Dumon, F. R茅gent, C. Oudin-Bastide). On the other hand, we also uncover the modalities with which colonial authorities have tried to supervise and regulate these economic practices since the 17th century, with varying success.
All of this confirms the overall pattern of a highly complex colonial society where each group of social actors (different social categories of slaves and owner-inhabitants, central State, as well as different types of local colonial authorities) defends its own economic interests in the context of a common strategy of avoidance and circumvention of the law - which led to the recurrent reaffirmation of the legal norm - to its solidification and adaptation nearly proportional to its degree of practical inefficiency.