Why study African slavery broadly

This week on Conflicted, we’re unlocking another episode we first released for members of the Conflicted Community.  

In this interview from last January, I talk with Martin Plaut, a distinguished journalist who has reported on conflicts across Africa for decades, and whose book Understanding Ethiopia’s Tigray War was an essential resource for us in preparing our series on Ethiopia. We discuss:

• Ethiopia’s recent Tigray War and why it proved so consequential for the Horn of Africa

• How the federal government — with Eritrean support — turned against the Tigray region despite its long rule in Ethiopia

• Martin’s personal story of growing up in apartheid South Africa and his early political activism

• His current work on the history of African slavery and common misconceptions surrounding it

Speaking of slavery in Africa, Martin’s latest book Unbroken Chains: A 5,000-Year History of African Enslavement has recently been published. I hope to get Martin back onto the podcast to talk all about it!

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