Schiavitù, lavoro e migrazioni in AOF (Afrique Occidentale Française)

The article deals in detail with the transition from indigenous slavery to free paid work in French West Africa during the early decades of the 20th century. More specifically, it focuses on the modalities of exit from slavery following the enforcement of abolition measures in 1905, taking into consideration issues such as freed slaves returning home, freed slaves staying at their master’s, freed slaves seeking for inclusion within the colonial apparatus, and finally freed slaves choosing migration and moving beyond both their ex-master’s and the colonial control. These are the major tracks in a difficult transition towards a fully-fledged development of free paid work, which is still a thorny and yet unresolved issue in contemporary Africa.