Boluwatife Akinro

The Memorialization of Domestic Slavery in Southwest Nigeria

My research investigates the legacy of domestic slavery in contemporary Yoruba communities of southwestern Nigeria. Slavery was an important social and political phenomenon in pre-colonial Yorubaland, and its intensification during the 19th Century had transformative effects on the region. In contrast to other sending and receiving societies however, slavery and its impacts are rarely memorialized in Nigerian academia or public discourse. I hypothesize that the memory of domestic slavery remains visible in the structure of extended family relationships, and I view the traditional Yoruba compound (Ilé) as a site of asymmetrical dependency. Using ethnographic field research in predominantly Yoruba towns, I demonstrate the lasting impact of 19th century domestic slavery on contemporary social and familial networks. 

since 2021            
Ph.D. in Cultural Studies, Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, University of Bonn, Germany

2016–2019                
M.A. in English and American Studies, University of Paderborn, Germany

2010–2014                
B.A. in Honours, English and International Studies, Osun State University, Nigeria

since 2021             
Research Associate, Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, University of Bonn, Germany

2019–2020                
Research Assistant, "Hybrid Narrativity Research Group," Universität Paderborn, Germany

2017–2019                
Student Assistant, University of Paderborn, Germany

2017                            
Editor (Intern), Education as A Vaccine (EVA), Nigera