Introduction

The introduction of the volume articulates relationships between notions of slavery, freedom, and unfreedom and proposes the term unfreedom as an ethic that might indicate the interdependence of the former two terms as well as link highly contested forms of coercion. Drawing on Foucauldian, postcolonial, and Afro-Pessimist theories, the introduction analyzes continuities and changes in unfreedoms, including contemporary forms of slavery and exclusion, such as through mass incarceration. Finally, it closes with an overview of the chapters in this volume and a reflection on what it might mean to move beyond freedom as an emancipatory horizon.