This book provides a series of pioneering studies, by experts in the field, on resistance to forms of bondage in Africa, Asia and the Indian Ocean world. It analyses the causes, duration and structure of resistance, from go-slows to flight, and theft to sabotage. It also examines the reaction to resistance by the propertied classes and assesses to what degree, if any, resistance was effective in alleviating the nature of bondage. The case studies, drawn from a wide spectrum of geographical areas and historical eras, underscore similarities and contrasts across the Africa-Asian regions. Summaries of these and a comparison with the much more publicized Atlantic system make this volume essential reading for scholars and students across a broad spectrum of disciplines and area studies.

This book was previously published as a special issue of the journal Slavery and Abolition.