Slavery, modernity, and capitalism: Alexander Von Humboldt in Cuba

Abstract

This paper presents the substantial aspects of Alexander von Humboldt’s conception on the issue of slavery. Essentially, his Ensayo politico sobre la Isla de Cuba is examined in the context of the profound transformations of the late eighteenth century from an Atlantic perspective. At the same time, the main trends of thought on race and slavery that surround his thought are discussed. That is why the axis in which the work is developed is the tension that exists between the enlightened and modern principles of Humboldt, the particularities of the perspectives of the German world, and the criticism that he makes of the system of conquest and slavery through of the first. It is considered that the paper’s contributions will allow readers to think about the dimension of slavery as a key gear in the expansion of modernity and as fundamental categories of analysis in the social sciences.