SOAS Director's Lecture Series: How Europe Underdeveloped Africa and the Caribbean

Full title: How Europe Underdeveloped Africa and the Caribbean - the Reparations Debate.

This year, 2022, will mark the 50th anniversary of SOAS alumnus Walter Rodney's ground-breaking book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. In honour of this, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, has published his own book, How Britain Underdeveloped the Caribbean. Professor Sir Hilary Beckles joins SOAS Director Adam Habib and SOAS President Zeinab Badawi for a lively debate on the book, but also the issue of global reparations.

The debate surrounding reparations for the transatlantic slave trade has deepened in recent years. The toppling of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol brought the debate about the legacy of slavery and colonialism into the spotlight in the UK. However, African and Caribbean countries have been calling for reparations from European countries for years with many former colonial powers refusing to accept responsibility.

The transatlantic enslavement of African people and unpaid forced labour generated wealth for the British Empire with cities like Bristol and London profiteering. European colonial powers built their empires with the wealth extracted from the territories and the people they exploited. After independence, many countries have faced suppressed economic development and the legacy of colonialism has left many descendants in poverty.