Nordic Networks in Global History: Navigating Slavery, Diplomacy, and Power in Early Modern Africa and the Mediterranean

Back

K Nordic Colonialism

Nordic Networks in Global History: Navigating Slavery, Diplomacy, and Power in Early Modern Africa and the Mediterranean

Event Details

Date

IV. Thursday, 11th September, 14:30-16:30
Location
N2050
Theme
K Nordic Colonialism

Convenor

Joachim Östlund (Lund University)

Chair

Victor Wilson (Åbo Akademi University)
Magdalena Naum (Lund University)

Panelists

Emil Kaukonen (Åbo Akademi University)
Martina Hjertman (University of Gothenburg)
Joachim Östlund (Lund University)
Mads Jensen (Lund University)

Papers

Emil Kaukonen

Among ”the slaves of the despot”: the Swedish consulate in Tangier 1787–1822

Among ”the slaves of the despot”: the Swedish consulate in Tangier 1787–1822

The Swedish consular network expanded quickly during the 18th century, and in 1763 a Swedish consulate was established in Morocco as a result of the peace treaty between King Adolf Fredrik and Sultan Mohammed III. Unlike the merchant-consuls of other ports, the Swedish consuls in Morocco were primarily diplomats, professional intermediaries who handled the day-to-day practicalities of the bilateral relations between the two courts. Their consular reports thus include descriptions of both personal experiences and general news about the political state of the sultanate, which enables us to read these texts as interpretations and descriptions of a foreign country and system, written for the benefit of their employers in Stockholm. The image of Morocco that the consuls created is of particular interest when compared with contemporary colonial and imperial projects: what kind of Morocco is presented here, and can we find aspects of a Swedish acceptance of the “civilizing mission” that supported French and English imperial projects at the turn of the century?
Martina Mjertman

Visualizing Slavery: New Perspectives on Early Modern West Africa in a Nordic and Global Context

Visualizing Slavery: New Perspectives on Early Modern West Africa in a Nordic and Global Context

This presentation examines the intersection of slavery and visual representation in early modern central West Africa, offering new insights through a critical perspective on an understudied form of visual documentation related to the slave trade in coastal regions. Focusing on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when European presence as image-makers was predominantly centered around trading stations and colonial settlements, this study shines attention to a lesser-known, likely Swedish, image-maker who produced a series of water colour paintings in 1784. These images, unique in their depiction of slave trading transactions directly from ships rather than forts or settlements, contribute to new methodologies in understanding the visual evidence of the slave trade. By drawing on the visual languages of natural history and blending various knowledge-making discourses, these paintings offer a complex portrayal of the trade, positioned between colonial propaganda and abolitionist symbolism. The presentation also places this Swedish visual contribution within a broader Nordic and global context, emphasizing how these images reflect not only the transnational nature of slavery but also the evolving role of Nordic actors in global historical processes. Through a critical examination of both form and content, the study highlights the potential of visual representation as a tool for rethinking the global history of slavery and its visual culture.
Joachim Östlund

Sultan Sidis Attempt to Fight Slavery in the Early Modern Mediterranean

Sultan Sidis Attempt to Fight Slavery in the Early Modern Mediterranean

This paper explores the concepts of rights in treaties in the encounter between practices and theories of European international law and the Moroccan sultanate. In 1777 the Moroccan envoy Samuel Sumbel's started negotiations with the Scandinavian monarchies to combat slavery in the Mediterranean. Sumbel's mission was to present a proposal for a new agreement that offered more protection to captives and slaves. His proposal was that women, children, and old men (above seventy years old) should not be enslaved, that captivity should not exceed one year, and that exchange should be based on equal numbers head for head, etc. By comparing the articles of the new agreement with the trade and peace treaties between Morocco and the Scandinavian monarchies, one could conclude that the proposal was path-breaking in many ways, even if the treaty was never concluded. This paper analyses how trading and the protection of bodies depended on various maritime legal regimes within the Mediterranean and how they were renegotiated in response to changing power relations. Sumbels proposal from 1777 is used as an example to highlight how rights for captives and slaves were redefined from a Moroccan perspective.
Mads Jensen

Taking treaties seriously: New intellectual, legal, and political perspectives on pre-colonial African-European political relations

Taking treaties seriously: New intellectual, legal, and political perspectives on pre-colonial African-European political relations

New developments in intellectual, legal, and political history of European and non-European relations in the early modern period mean that we now know much more about the messy construction of colonial legal orders, of the role of intercultural diplomacy, and the contested conclusion and use of trea4es. Not least, it has been shown how European expansion (whether commercial or territorial) depended on the successful navigation of and adaptation to non-European legal and political orders. This paper explores how such perspectives may fruitfully be applied to the context of Sub-Saharan Africa by discussing the 1789 treaty between Obuobi Atiemo, the ruler of Akuapem, and P. E. Isert, representative of the King of Denmark. This article has been seen as “pure rhetoric”, an expression of Danish colonial ideology with no relation to political reality, running counter to “Akan ideology” of land rights. However, while purpor4ng to consider African perspectives and ideas, this view presupposes a simplistic conception of politics and of Akan ideology. Instead, this paper argues that we should approach treaties such as the one between Atiemo and Isert as part of ongoing negotiations of political relations. The significance of language depends not on its correspondence with “reality”, but on successful use and recognition by the par4es involved. This opens for recognition of the strategic use of terms such as “master” (Akan: “owura”) in drawing European actors into African political orders, and their change over time.

Abstract

This panel reconsiders the Nordic role in global history, particularly how political, legal, and visual tools were used to navigate slavery and diplomacy in the early modern world. Drawing on new perspectives from intellectual, legal, and diplomatic history, the panel explores early modern political relations, slavery, and visual representation in West Africa and North Africa. The first paper examines how recent developments in intellectual and legal history can be applied to understanding West African-European relations before the 19th century. It analyzes a 1789 treaty between the Danish and the ruler of Akuapem, often dismissed as mere rhetoric, and reinterprets it as a dynamic negotiation of political power and a recognition of African legal strategies. The second paper shifts focus to the Swedish consulate in Tangier (1787–1822), highlighting how consular reports provided Sweden with insights into Moroccan politics. It questions whether these reports reflected Swedish participation in the “civilizing mission” ideology associated with European colonialism. The third paper critically engages with visual depictions of slavery in West Africa, particularly a series of watercolors made by a Swedish painter in 1784. These images, depicting slave trading directly from ships, challenge traditional visual narratives and blend natural history with knowledge production, offering a different perspective on Nordic involvement in the global history of slavery. Lastly, the fourth paper discusses Moroccan efforts to reform slavery in the Mediterranean, particularly Sultan Sidi’s 1777 proposals to the Scandinavian monarchies. Though never enacted, these groundbreaking proposals rethought the rights of captives and slaves, underscoring how Moroccan legal perspectives shaped Mediterranean maritime laws.