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Elite schools and slavery in the UK – capital, violence and extractivism
Open accessAbstract
Elite schools in the UK are bound to the history of British colonialism.This paper examines the material ties between these schools and the transatlantic slave trade.We combine multiple sources to examine which schools and their alumni accrued substantial economic capital derived from the enslavement of Black people.We find two principal connections: first, in donations and foundations of schools from those who made their fortune in the slave trade; and second, through income of boys attending these schools.Drawing on the Legacies of British Slavery dataset, we show that schools with alumni benefitting from the slave trade include the most prestigious British private schools.Moreover, this paper traces the histories of several secondary schools founded by, or in receipt of, substantial donations from slave-owning families.We argue that extractive, violent forms of colonial capital accumulation have been central to, the formation and maintenance of these elite educational institutions.
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“For instance, many universities in the UK and Ireland benefitted from the transatlantic slave trade in various ways, such as through investments from companies, as well as donations from benefactors and plantation owners who made money from the slave trade”
From Reframing the impostor phenomenon for Black college students (2024) · cites this paper as Gamsu et al., 2024
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“Unfortunately, histories of exclusion and discrimination experienced by Black students in the academy are not confined to the U.S. Institutions of higher learning in the UK and abroad are also deeply tied to colonialism and slavery.These historical ties continue to negatively affect Black students of the African diaspora today.”
From Reframing the impostor phenomenon for Black college students (2024) · cites this paper as Gamsu et al., 2024
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The Plantation Machine: Atlantic Capitalism in French Saint-Domingue and British Jamaica
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Cited by
Reframing the impostor phenomenon for Black college students
Connaught, G. (2024) · Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice · doi:10.56433/pv5se246 · Cited by 2
“For instance, many universities in the UK and Ireland benefitted from the transatlantic slave trade in various ways, such as through investments from companies, as well as donations from benefactors and plantation owners who made money from the slave trade (Davies, 2024; Gamsu et al., 2024).”
Metadata
- Authors
- Gamsu, S., Ashe, S., & Arday, J.
- Affiliations
- Durham University (GB)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Gamsu, Sol
- Venue
- Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2024-05-03
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 325-345
- ISSN
- 0159-6306 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-3739
- OpenAlex
- W4396675619
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2
- FWCI
- 8.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Discourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- U.S. Bureau of Land Management
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Colonialism, slavery, and trade
- Social Sciences › Education › Historical Education Studies Worldwide
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Critical Race Theory in Education
- Keywords
- elite schools, private schools, transatlantic slave trade, slavery, colonialism, extractivism, economic capital, school donations, violence, Black alumni, secondary education, British colonial rule
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