E257 | The Ottoman slave trade, which was part of an increasingly globalized trafficking network of the early modern period, brought millions of people from the surrounding regions of Europe, Asia, and Africa to the Ottoman Empire. While abolition and emancipation movements occurred in various forms throughout the last century of the empire's history, slavery remained in practice until its very end. In recent decades, the ignored history of the Ottoman slave trade has received more attention, but there has been considerably less discussion of how enslaved people brought to the empire contributed to its socioeconomic and cultural transformation and where the descendants of such people can be found today. In this episode, we talk to Michael Ferguson about his research on the African diaspora in modern Turkey, especially around the city of Izmir. We discuss the origins of Izmir's Afro-Turk community, their historical experience during the late Ottoman and early Republican periods, and the ways in which the Afro-Turk identity has been transformed and revived in recent years. We also delve into shared aspects of history and culture between diasporic African communities in other parts of the Middle East.

More at http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2016/08/african-diaspora-izmir.html

Michael Ferguson is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, UK. Michael’s research focuses on questions of identity, marginalization, and minorities in the late Ottoman Empire and early republican Turkey. His current book project examines the relatively unknown social and cultural history of enslaved and emancipated Africans and their descendants in Izmir in the late Ottoman Empire.

Chris Gratien holds a Ph.D. from Georgetown University's Department of History. His research focuses on the social and environmental history of the Ottoman Empire and the modern Middle East. He is currently preparing a monograph about the environmental history of the Cilicia region from the 1850s until the 1950s.

Saghar Sadeghian is currently Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Willamette University. She is a former Henry Hart Rice Family Foundation Fellow and Lecturer at Yale University's MacMillan Center. Her research focuses on the ideas of nationality, constitution, and modern institutions in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She is specifically interested in minority groups in the Middle East and the question of gender, race, religion and ethnicity.

CREDITS

Episode No. 257
Release Date: 10 August 2016
Recording Location: Yale University
Editing and production by Chris Gratien
Sound excerpts: Istanbul'dan Ayva Gelir Nar Gelir - Azize Tozem and Sari Recep; Harmandali - Recep Efendi, Cemal Efendi; Esmeray - 13.5 (digitized vinyl)
Special thanks to Kara Güneş for allowing us to use the composition "Istanbul" in the intro music
Bibliography courtesy of Michael Ferguson available at http://www.ottomanhistorypodcast.com/2016/08/african-diaspora-izmir.html