Professor Jody Benjamin, UC Riverside, will present a lecture as part of the African Studies Center Speaker Series for Spring 2018.

Monday, April 9, 2018
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
10383 Bunche Hall
Los Angeles, CA CA 90095

This chapter explores archival business records, correspondence, visual images and material evidence to establish the importance of a regional trans-Saharan economy of indigo cottons to fast expanding Atlantic commerce. It argues that this local industry depended on the labor of women dyers who are rarely considered as important economic actors in the historiography for this period, which tends to focus almost exclusively on merchant signares and coastal trade. Important as both customary gifts to rulers, and as goods often preferred by African consumers, Indian cottons cemented linkages between African, European and Berber/Arab merchants. They also became the basis of imitations produced by competing European industries; part of a wider mid-century contest between British and French commercial empires throughout the period. How does attention to the circulation of textiles illuminate the roles of African actors in creating trans-oceanic exchanges both within and across imperial lines during the 18th century?

Lunch will be served.

Cost : Free and open to the public; pay-by-space and all-day ($12) parking available in lot 3.

UCLA African Studies Center310-825-3686
africa@international.ucla.edu

http://www.international.ucla.edu/africa

Sponsor(s): African Studies Center, Department of African American Studies, African Activist Association