Inspired by the podcast of the same name, Human Resources is an attempt by award-winning producer Renay Richardson and Oxford PhD student Arisa Loomba to tackle “our surprising inability as a society to reckon with the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade”.
Over 39 chapters of short, snappy prose, the duo reveal how the brutal business of human trafficking helped to shape today’s western civilisation, from the foods we consume and the clothes on our backs to the financial systems we use and even some of the sporting institutions we support, the latter including Liverpool and Everton football clubs.
While many of their observations relate to the legacy of those knowingly involved in the business of buying and selling human beings, much of the book is taken up with those who, while not directly involved in owning slaves, nonetheless contributed to slavery’s development and continuation.
“Slavery was so fundamental to the way British society then worked that ... it simply wasn’t possible to separate yourself from it,” the writers argue, citing the examples of Scottish factory workers and scientists, whose work benefited, and sometimes only existed because of, the slave trade. They acknowledge, however, that disadvantaged people, “in just trying to make ends meet, can become entangled in unjust systems that create poverty, suffering and violence”.
Most of the book is concerned with our near neighbours across the Irish Sea, including the involvement of the royal family and other notable historical figures, with the authors unafraid to call out institutions such as the Bank of England and even the bastion of liberalism , The Guardian, which was founded partly using the profits of enforced labour.
During the period in question (1501-1867), Ireland was part of the British Empire and our ancestors and fellow countrymen were not exempt from involvement, from renowned physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane (born in Killyleagh, Co Down) to the salt beef barons of Dublin, Cork and Belfast, whose produce fed the sorry inhabitants of the American and Caribbean plantations.
[ British Museum moves bust of Irishman who was a slaveownerOpens in new window ]
The book whizzes from topic to topic, making its case succinctly and arguing that until we deal honestly and directly with the realities of the past, however painful they might be, it will continue to hamper our ability to tackle systematic inequalities today.
