History of Slavery in North Africa | M'hamed Oualdi
M'hamed Oualdi – professor of history at Paris' Sciences Po University – joins us on the afikra podcast to delve into the often obscured and forgotten history of slavery in North Africa. Starting with his book "A Slave Between Empires: A Transimperial History of North Africa", he talks about why there's a pointed absence of awareness around the Arab world's own history of slavery, and details the history of slavery in Mamluk Tunisia and Egypt, the role of nationalism in erasing this period, and the position of anti-black racism in fueling the North African trade.
M’hamed Oualdi is full professor of history at Sciences Po-Paris. He is a historian of Early Modern and Modern North Africa trained in Arabic at Inalco-Paris and in history at the Sorbonne University (Paris 1-Panthéon Sorbonne) from which he obtained his PhD in 2008. Prior to joining the faculty at Sciences Po, he was associate professor at Princeton University (2013-2019) and maître de conferences at Inalco-Paris (2010-2013). His research has centered on two main topics: slavery and its social impacts on Ottoman Tunisia and the many effects of transitioning from the Ottoman rule to a French colonial domination in North African societies.
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The Afikra Podcast
The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media, urban planning, and beyond, who are helping document and shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work.
