Revisiting Europe and slavery

This comment explores why the debate on slavery and European economic development, which goes back to the early nineteenth century, has become significant again in the past two decades, with many suggesting the need to take a second look at the problem. It reflects on the articles of this special issue. Taking the discussion beyond the usual case of England and the Industrial Revolution, these articles show that we need to bring slavery into the history of European economic development more broadly, and that we need to see the literature on slavery and the literature on early modern Europe as part of a related set of problems and questions. This special issue makes an important contribution to the debate on slavery and European economic development by specifying more precisely how much slavery mattered. Yet none of them even begins to engage with the important '"why?"' question.