In The Afterlife of Reproductive Slavery Alys Eve Weinbaum investigates the continuing resonances of Atlantic slavery in the cultures and politics of human reproduction that characterize contemporary biocapitalism. As a form of racial capitalism that relies on the commodification of the human reproductive body, biocapitalism is dependent upon what Weinbaum calls the slave episteme-the racial logic that drove four centuries of slave breeding in the Americas and Caribbean. Weinbaum outlines how the slave episteme shapes the practice of reproduction today, especially through use of biotechnology and surrogacy. Engaging with a broad set of texts, from Toni Morrison's Beloved and Octavia Butler's dystopian speculative fiction to black Marxism, histories of slavery, and legal cases involving surrogacy, Weinbaum shows how black feminist contributions from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s constitute a powerful philosophy of history-one that provides the means through which to understand how reproductive slavery haunts the present.

About the Author
Alys Eve Weinbaum is Professor of English at the University of Washington, author of Wayward Reproductions: Genealogies of Race and Nation in Transatlantic Modern Thought, and coeditor of The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization, both also published by Duke University Press.

Reviews
"Weinbaum's book is both a contribution to a rich Black feminist theoretical archive on reproductive politics and a celebration of work by Black feminist scholars-particularly Black feminist legal scholars, including Dorothy Roberts and Anita Allen-who have long considered the intersections of surrogacy, slavery, and logics of property.... Weisenbaum's original and incisive text gives us new tools to think about reproductive freedom and reminds us that any idea of reproductive freedom requires Black feminist theoretical innovation and imagination." -- Jennifer C. Nash * Modern Language Quarterly *
"Ultimately, The Afterlife of Reproductive Slavery does not disappoint. It does the job of demonstrating the complex connections between the gendered and racialised reproductive exploitation and extraction during the historical Atlantic slave trade period and today exceedingly well." -- Gina Marie Longo * Feminist Encounters *
"The book offers much-needed critical perspectives on the racializing processes at the center of reproductive labor and commodification. . . . Ulitmately, Weinbaum's analysis shows the importance of thinking historically and offers insights into the ways in which gendered, racialized, and sexualized forms of oppression that have roots in slavery continue to motivate biocapitalism today." -- Daisy Deomampo * Catalyst *



Book Information
ISBN 9781478002840
Author Alys Eve Weinbaum
Format Paperback
Page Count 296
Imprint Duke University Press
Publisher Duke University Press
Weight(grams) 408g