ABSTRACT

This comment explores why the debate on slavery and European economic development, which goes back to the early nineteenth century, has become significant again in the past two decades, with many suggesting the need to take a second look at the problem. It reflects on the articles of this special issue. Taking the discussion beyond the usual case of England and the Industrial Revolution, these articles show that we need to bring slavery into the history of European economic development more broadly, and that we need to see the literature on slavery and the literature on early modern Europe as part of a related set of problems and questions. This special issue makes an important contribution to the debate on slavery and European economic development by specifying more precisely how much slavery mattered. Yet none of them even begins to engage with the important ‘“why?”’ question.

摘要

该评论探讨了为什么可以追溯到19世纪初的关于奴隶制和欧洲经济发展的辩论在过去的二十年中再次变得重要起来，许多人认为有必要重新审视这个问题。它反映了本期特刊的文章。这些文章使讨论超出了英格兰和工业革命的通常情况，这些文章表明我们需要将奴隶制更广泛地带入欧洲经济发展的历史，并且我们需要看到有关奴隶制的文献和关于近代欧洲的文献。作为一系列相关问题的一部分。这一特刊通过更精确地说明奴隶制的重要性，为有关奴隶制和欧洲经济发展的辩论做出了重要贡献。