Jumia Books Worlds of Unfreedom: West Central Africa in the Era of Global Abolition by Roquinaldo Ferreira

Worlds of Unfreedom by Roquinaldo Ferreira is a powerful reexamination of the transatlantic slave trade’s final chapter, told from the perspective of West Central Africa. Challenging Eurocentric narratives, Ferreira places African actors, institutions, and resistance at the center of the story, revealing how slavery endured and adapted even as abolitionist movements gained global momentum.

Spanning the period from the 1830s to the 1860s, the book explores how local dynamics in Angola and surrounding regions intersected with international pressures to end slavery. Ferreira draws on rich archival research to show that abolition was not a linear or universally welcomed process. Instead, it was a contested terrain shaped by diplomacy, commerce, colonial ambition, and African agency.

Key themes include:

The persistence of slavery in West Central Africa despite growing global abolitionist sentiment

The role of African elites, merchants, and communities in negotiating, resisting, or perpetuating systems of unfreedom

The impact of European colonial expansion and shifting trade networks on local labor practices

Microhistorical accounts of enslaved individuals and their strategies of survival and resistance

The complex interplay between abolition, empire, and economic transformation

Ferreira’s work is both scholarly and accessible, offering a nuanced portrait of a region often overlooked in mainstream abolitionist histories. He integrates local oral traditions, colonial records, and global political developments to craft a narrative that is as intellectually rigorous as it is emotionally resonant.

This book is ideal for:

Historians and scholars of slavery, colonialism, and African studies

Students and educators seeking African-centered perspectives on global history

East African researchers exploring comparative histories of resistance and labor systems