This project is focused on slavery in the medieval Islamic world. The aim of the study is to understand in more depth the way in which race and color were incorporated into understandings of slavery by medieval Islamic writers, and also who was able to be enslaved from their perspective. A genre of slave buying manuals will be analyzed in order to gain a greater understanding of these concepts. Research focused primarily on three authors. These authors were Ibn Al-Akfani who lived most of his life in Cairo during the 14th century, Ibn Butlan who lived in the 11th century in Baghdad, and Al-Saqati who lived in the 13th century in Málaga. I argue that there are clearly ideas of race and racial constructions within the medieval Islamic context as evidenced by these texts, but that there is not enough evidence to support a connection between these ideas of race and ideas of color or enslaveability. Additionally, I argue that there is no connection between color and enslaveability during this period as reflected in these texts.

The Role of Hypocrisy in Slavery: Harriet Martineau and the Social Contract The social contract, by very definition, exists only by agreement of all parties to relinquish certain freedoms in exchange for safety and prosperity. This logically renders slavery a paradoxical phenomenon that should not exist within a social contract. How then, does slavery thrive within these systems? Hypocrisy exercised by those in power sows the injustices necessary to grow and maintain slavery. Harriet Martineau unapologetically calls attention to hypocritical practices, most prevalently within her work examining the education of women, marriage, and her critique of slavery. In this paper presentation for the International Martineau Society Annual Conference, I discussed Harriet Martineau’s work as it relates to oppression and slavery within the social contract. Although Martineau participates in the hypocritical systems that she denounces, which is in itself, hypocrisy, she leverages this duplicity in order to advocate for change.