Beyond Slavery: Overcoming Its Religious and Sexual Legacies 2010th Edition

“Reading through this collection of essays was a riveting experience. It combines insightful discussions of women, religion, and sexuality with careful historical analysis of slavery. I enthusiastically recommend it, especially for its insights about U.S. racism.”–Traci C. West, Professor of Ethics and African American Studies, Drew University Theological School

This book revolutionizes our understanding of the moral and ethical legacies of slavery, particularly the sexual exploitation of women and girls. These essays implicate religious texts and practices in slavery s many forms, both ancient and modern. Yet we are reminded that Christianity, Judaism, and Islam also contain the hope, mercy, and compassion that can speak powerfully to slavery s truth and help us overcome its remnants. With a bold and passionate call for a new sexual ethics and public policies liberated from the taint of enslavement, this book rests its claims on the brilliant work of an extraordinary scholarly collaboration. –Barbara D. Savage, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania and author of “Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion”

An important and thought-provoking book that challenges readers to relinquish the popular notion that slavery is long in the past and to confront the ways in which its legacy continues to shape many of our social institutions. –Judith Plaskow, Professor of Religious Studies, Manhattan College

One might have thought that the study of slavery and sexuality had been thoroughly mined, but these fascinating essays prove that view wrong. By examining slavery through the lens of the diverse religions that accommodated it, these authors illustrate the inevitable role of religion in regulating sexuality in slave societies, exposing it at work in unexpected and fascinating ways in early Roman amphitheaters, Jewish marriages, Thomas Jefferson s plantation, and contemporary debates over welfare and prisons. After reading these essays, you will not see sexuality, or religion, the same way again. –Adrienne D. Davis, William M. Van Cleve Professor of Law, Washington University School of Law”