• Centre for African and International Studies, University of Cape Coast, Ghana
• Departamento de História y la Casa de Altos Estudios Fernando Ortiz, Universidad de Habana, Cuba
• Departamento de Humanidades, Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
• Department of History, Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey
• Department of Sociology, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
• Escola de Humanidades, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
• Facultad des Humanidades, Universidad del Magdalena, Santa Marta, Columbia
• Faculty of Humanities, College of Humanities and Culture (Ikire Campus), Osun State University, Nigeria
• Gilder Lehman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition, Yale University, US

• Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Caracas, Venezuela
• Instituto Internacional de Estudios del Caribe, Universidad de Cartagena, Columbia
• International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Leiden Slavery Studies Association (LSSA), Leiden University, Netherlands
• Programa des Pós-Graduação em História, Fluminense Federal University (UFF), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba (UNEAC), Cienfuegos, Cuba
• Universidad de Cienfuegos "Carlos Rafael Rodríguez," Cuba
• Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation, University of Hull, UK

What is your institution's specific angle to slavery and dependency research?
The University of Cape Coast (UCC) is a public university located in the historic town of Cape Coast in the central region of Ghana and currently ranked by the World University Rankings and Higher Times Education as No.1 in Ghana. The University offers a wide range of courses in the Liberal Arts, Sciences including Medicine Law, Social Sciences, and Education. The study of slavery and its afterlives is a theme that some academics within the The Centre for African and International studies research on. Currently an academic in the Centre, Professor Emmanuel Saboro focuses on the impact of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade on African societies in general and within decentralized societies specifically. Within the last couple of years this research has focusesd largely on African indigenous slave systems, resistance and identity construction. The Centre also offers a course on the Slave Trade and Colonialism in Africa at the undergraduate level. The Centre is currently developing a new programme in Slavery and Diaspora studies to be offered at the MA/PhD level.

What would you say is the added value of the cooperation?
The cooperation between the Centre for African and International Studies and the Bonn Centre for Dependency and Slavery Studies is valuable in a number of ways: Our two centres will be able to facilitate faculty and student exchanges in order to better understand the ways in which asymmetrical dependencies are understood within our specific contexts. This partnership is also important because African scholars from Ghana will bring a much more nuanced understanding of slavery and other forms of dependencies from a rich repertoire of African indigenous sources that are often inaccessible within European or Western spaces.

Was there a joint activity that was particularly formative for the partnership?
Prof. Emmanuel Saboro was recently offered a short visiting research fellowship at the BCDSS in September/October 2023 where he had some fruitful discussions with Professor Dr. Stephan Connerman and Sarah Dusend on how to proceed further with our institutional partnership. Professor Saboro also presented his current reseach based on a second book he is writing on "Sites of Memories connected to the slave experience in Ghana." We have also begun discussions for a joint conference to be held either in Ghana or in Bonn in 2024 on a common theme that is yet to be decided on, based on our mutual research focus.

What is your institution's specific angle to slavery and dependency research?
The Department of Sociology at the University of Port Harcourt's (UNIPORT) approach to sociology is broad, encompassing a commitment to addressing societal challenges on both local and global scales. Their philosophy emphasizes the importance of social justice, diversity, and inclusivity. In the context of slavery and dependency research, the department takes a multi-faceted approach where they adopt historical perspective of slavery, examining its roots, impact, and evolution over time. The department focuses on contemporary forms of dependency, including economic, social, and political dependencies that exist in the present day. This involves researching on issues like modern-day slavery, economic exploitation, or systemic dependencies.

What would you say is the added value of the cooperation?
The Department of Sociology's, UNIPORT commitment to being a trailblazer in social science education requires the use of an interdisciplinary approach where we collaborate with other departments or disciplines to bring a comprehensive understanding to the study of slavery and dependencies. That is why the cooperation between the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies is very strategic in the sense that we feed on each other's knowledge about the state of the art in the study of dependency and slavery studies. We intend establishing a joint international research and teaching network by this cooperation. Currently, I am a guest lecturer and a former Senior Fellow at the BCDSS where I teach contemporary slavery studies at the Post graduate level.

Was there a joint activity that was particularly formative for the partnership?
The Department of Sociology and the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) jointly conducted a PhD workshop for PhD students from both the Department of Sociology, UNIPORT and the BCDSS. The PhD workshop was held on 12 May 2022, via zoom due to travel restrictions still in place during the covid-19 pandemic. It was a very interesting event, and I am happy to say that despite the limitations most of our students may have had due to the pandemic, they were still doing their research on strong asymmetrical dependencies. This joint PhD workshop was particularly formative for our partnership with the BCDSS.

What is your institution’s specific angle to slavery and dependency research?
We work very inter-disciplinarily. The following topics can be highlighted: firstly, the philosophical and theological groundwork of the ideology of black slavery in Latin America, 16th–19th centuries. The question to be answered is: How black slavery was normatively discussed and eventually "normalized" in Latin American colonial history? Secondly, the study of the fate of black people in Brazilian post-emancipation period, with an emphasis on theories of scientific racism and eugenics in early 20th-century Brazil and on work relationships in the post emancipation history of the lusophone countries in South America and Africa. Thirdly, the study of claims of restitution in 21st-century Brazil that reasonably connect to the past of slavery in the country and the shortcomings of post-abolitionist policies of reparation.

What would you say is the added value of the cooperation?
On the institutional level, the cooperation can bring something very specific and new – such as a shared international Master's Program in Dependency and Slavery Studies (PUCRS – BCDSS, Brazil – Germany). This can mean a unique opportunity for students from Germany for having the experience of studying in a highly qualified Brazilian university, as well as, of course, for Brazilians students, to make their education in a top university in Germany. On the conceptual level, the cooperation can point to new areas of research in dependency and slavery studies. Of course, transatlantic slave trade is a major interest in the global history of slavery. But research lines such as the ideology of black slavery during the colonial Latin  American history and the challenge of understanding post-abolitionist and contemporary claims of reparation and restitution can represent new emphases in slavery research that have, moreover, a significant appeal to current debates in South American societies.

Was there a joint activity that was particularly formative for the partnership?
Three joint activities were particularly formative for the partnership: firstly, the CAPES/Uni-Bonn Chair (07/2018–02/2019 and 11/2019–02/2020), of which Prof. Dr. Roberto Hofmeister-Pich was the first holder and during which he presented the research project "The Philosophy of Black Slavery: The Historical-Philosophical Groundwork of the Ideology of Slavery in Latin America, 16th–19th Centuries." Secondly, two visits of Prof. Dr. Stephan Conermann to the PUCRS, in August 2019 and June-July 2022. Thirdly, the Humboldt-Kolleg "Slavery, Freedom, Sustainability, and Pandemic: Debates on Brazilian and African Societies in Historical and Contemporary Perspective," Porto Alegre – Brazil, 16–19 November 2021. Through visits to Porto Alegre and the joint organization of the Humboldt-Kolleg, mutual knowledge between PUCRS’s and BCDSS's researchers was made possible and a more thorough acquaintance with dependency and slavery studies in Brazil stimulated further cooperation.

What is your institution's specific angle to slavery and dependency research?
Our Center is principally concerned with the history and legacies of racial slavery in the Atlantic World. We offer both long and short-term fellowships to support scholars at various points in their career, including graduate students, recent recipients of the PhD, and senior scholars, in the development of a wide range of research projects that include the Caribbean, the United States, Brazil, and Latin America.

What would you say is the added value of the cooperation?
Our cooperation with the Bonn Center for the Dependency and Slavery Studies has allowed us to expand our fellowship program to include the Bonn/Yale Anton Wilhelm Amo Fellowship. The partnership has also allowed Yale scholars and GLC affiliates such as Edward Rugemer and Noel Lenski to share their work through the Joseph Miller Memorial Lecture Series.

Was there a joint activity that was particularly formative for the partnership?
The mutual learning and cooperation in the development of the Bonn/Yale fellowship has been especially formative.

What is your institution's specific angle to slavery and dependency research?
At the Institute we have developed a line of work on slavery, racism and nation-building. In this direction, we were pioneers in opening a field of work with the books "The Failure of the Nation: Region, Race and Class in the Colombian Caribbean," and "Imagined Borders: The Construction of Race and Geography in the Colombian Caribbean." For the first time, the participation of free and unfree Afro-Colombians in the founding of the Colombian nation and the production of a profoundly racist image of the nation in the 19th century was systematically studied. In relation to forms of dependency, we are working to initiate studies on the relationship between migration and domestic work and the trafficking of women and children, in the particular case of Venezuelan migration.

What would you say is the added value of the cooperation?
A joint collaboration allows for comparative approaches, as well as pooling economic, intellectual and research resources etc., for shared projects on the different forms of slavery and dependency. Sharing methodologies, experiences and fostering a permanent exchange and dialogue will enrich both institutions.

Was there a joint activity that was particularly formative for the partnership?
We have had an academic relationship with Professor Michael Zeuske for more than 20 years, thanks to the biannual International Seminar on Caribbean Studies, a space for the dissemination of research on socio-cultural and economic issues in the Caribbean and for dialogue between researchers. In this seminar, Professor Zeuske has presented the development of his research and shared with students and professors, and we have discussed the development of joint projects.

What is your institution's specific angle to slavery and dependency research?
The IISH Global Labour History program explores the history of work from a global and long-term perspective by studying all types of work and labour relations world-wide. We focus on shifts in labour relations – as part of transformations set in motion by capitalism, colonialism and globalization - and the effect they had on workers, their position and social inequality. Slavery and other forms of coercive labour relations are a key part of this program. Moving beyond dominant models of 'classic' and Atlantic histories of slavery, we question how differentregimes functioned, how they were enforced and challenged, and how different regimes were connected and interacted.

What would you say is the added value of the cooperation?
The added value lies in the combination of the two different perspectives on dependency and different forms of labour relations. The BCDSS' expertise in the field of early and early-modern history in parts of the world where the IISH does not have specialised knowledge leads to a broadening and deepening of our understanding of slavery and other forms of forced labour.

Was there a joint activity that was particularly formative for the partnership?
Contacts between individual members of BCDSS and IISH existed long before the BCDSS came into existence. These contacts led to a collaborative project to map the slave trade in Asia. In 2018 IISH and BCDSS forged a consortium together with Linneaus University and CNRS Lyon, which obtained a grant by the Dutch Science Foundation to build a database on Asian Maritime Slave Trade (ESTA), which was launched in Bonn on 17 November 2023.

What is your institution's specific angle to slavery and dependency research?
The avenues of inquiry here in Leiden are extremely diverse, but much of it is characterized by what we often call a "GLOCAL" approach. This entails localized case studies that tell very broad (or even global) stories. For example, LSSA colleagues have recently published works on: Black Sea slavery (consisting of several localized case studies); various "spaces of freedom" for runaway slaves in North America; Black family life in the Dutch Caribbean as a unique case study in the Atlantic world; testimonies of slavery in South Asia as a lens for Indian Ocean World slavery; Dutch lawsuits regarding the "hidden" slave trade; attempts in Louisiana to reopen the African slave trade under the guise of "African apprenticeship" schemes; etc.

What would you say is the added value of the cooperation?
The most important added value of the cooperation is the influence of Bonn's conceptual framing of "asymmetrical dependency" and the sliding scale of freedom and unfreedom on Leiden scholarship. We have noticed far more interest lately in scholarship that moves away from binary or linear understandings of slavery and freedom. Recent output by colleagues in Leiden has for example examined in-between legal categories of bonded Africans in the Americas; experiences of dependency among free Blacks and refugees living all over the Atlantic world; the porous boundaries between captives and slaves in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions; and even extreme dependency among North Korean workers in the EU.

Was there a joint activity that was particularly formative for the partnership?
The most fruitful and formative activity for the partnership has been the establishment of an annual PhD/Postdoc conference, which we launched at the height of the corona pandemic in 2020. The conference is a triangular joint cooperation between Leiden, Bonn, and the Wilberforce Institute at the University of Hull. This activity is not only fruitful as a forum for young scholars to present their research and receive valuable feedback, but it is especially inspiring to the "older" staff! The conference exposes us all to the very latest cutting-edge research, to new questions, and to innovative avenues of inquiry being pursued by the next generation of scholars

What is your institution's specific angle to slavery and dependency research?
Here the specific angle to slavery and dependency research is predominately connected to labor history. We have studies, for example, that examine the connection between enslaved and free workers.

What would you say is the added value of the cooperation?
The cooperation with the BCDSS represents the mutual exchange and enrichment of the debate on slavery and dependency. It is a chance to internationalize and give more visibility to research produced in Brazil, and national production can also contribute to the rich debate promoted by the BCDSS. We are currently working on a joint project funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation which aims to bring PhD students from Brazil to Germany and vice versa. The project seeks to analyze the unexplored field of connections between Brazil and Africa in the worlds of labor.

Was there a joint activity that was particularly formative for the partnership?
A crucial joint activity was a workshop held in Bonn in 2020 that brought together many researchers from Brazil who discussed current trends on Brazilian slavery. The resulting publication in the BCDSS De Gruyter series was an excellent opportunity to present national production to the international audience.

What is your institution's specific angle to slavery and dependency research?
The Wilberforce Institute, founded in 2006, is a research centre attached to the University of Hull, whose mission is to study slavery both past and present. It has focused in the past on establishing the contours of transatlantic slavery but has now expanded its mission to look at slavery over all of his history and in particular to examine the legacies of slavery or British institutions. It studies the evil of modern slavery academically and has an outreach programme to help businesses prevent modern slavery in supply chains and a Justice hub to help inform and mitigate modern slavery.

What would you say is the added value of the cooperation?
The study of slavery has become increasingly urgent within Europe as we realize its effects are not something we can dismiss as happening 'over there.' BCDSS has greatly raised the profile of the study of slavery in Europe through its many activities. Its works complements the work of the Wilberforce Institute in multiple ways, through workshops, conferences, student exchanges and in particular by raising the profile of the study of slavery as major academic activities within Europe.

Was there a joint activity that was particularly formative for the partnership?
The education of postgraduate students is particularly important for both institutes. It has significantly enhanced by annual postgraduate conferences for students at Leiden, Hull and Bonn. For Hull students, this has provided an invaluable opportunity to present their work to international audiences and to expand their European networks.