Elena Barattini
Project: Brokering Dependency: Diplomacy, Labour, and Empire-by-Proxy in the Post-Abolition Caribbean (1865–1885)
Elena, who holds a PhD in Global History of Empires from the University of Turin, explores how coercive labor systems were reconfigured after the abolition of slavery. Her research traces transimperial networks linking Cuba, Venezuela, and the Indian Ocean, focusing on the "intermediaries"—consuls, brokers, and shipowners—who utilized legal loopholes to maintain systems of indentured labor.
Javan Zaumambo Mokebo
Project: Imaging Economic Dependencies in Colonial Plantation Economies of Africa and the Caribbean, 1890–1960
Joining us from Kenyatta University, Javan investigates how colonial states used fiscal instruments like credit, debt, and taxation to replace the physical chains of slavery. By comparing British East Africa with the Caribbean, his work reveals how "freedom" was systematically managed through economic coercion and racial hierarchies, creating lasting asymmetrical dependencies.
Ayesha Hussain
Project: Afterlives of Slavery: Cultural Heritage, Memory, and Marginalization of the Sheedi Community in South Asia
After successfully completing her PhD here at the BCDSS, Ayesha continues her work on the African diaspora in the Indian Ocean. Her research focuses on the Sheedi (Siddi) communities of Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. Through oral histories and collective memory, she examines how these communities preserve their East African heritage while navigating contemporary social marginalization and racialization.
We wish them all the best in our cluster and look forward to the insights and collaborations these researchers will bring, as they study the complex histories of dependency across the globe.