IMC 2026: Sessions
Session 707: Slavery, Sexuality, and Society, III: The Liminality of Enslavement in Islam(icate) Societies
Tuesday 7 July 2026, 14:15-15:45
| Sponsor: | DoSSE Project (ERC-Funded: 101001429) / ImBod Project (ERC-Funded) / Middle East Medievalists (MEM) |
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| Organisers: | Zahra Azhar, Institute for Area Studies, Universiteit Leiden Erin Thomas Dailey, School of History, Politics & International Relations, University of Leicester |
| Moderator/Chair: | Anna Chrysostomides, Department of History, Queen Mary University of London |
| Paper 707-a | From Enslavement to Authority: Birth Narratives of the Imams (Language: English) Index terms: Islamic and Arabic Studies, Social History, Women's Studies |
| Paper 707-b | Eunuchs, Gender, and Authority in Islamicate Societies (Language: English) Index terms: Gender Studies, Islamic and Arabic Studies, Law, Social History |
| Paper 707-c | Beyond, Betwixt, Between: Legal Liminality and Slavery in Premodern Islamic Law (Language: English) Index terms: Islamic and Arabic Studies, Law, Social History |
| Abstract | People who held the legal status of 'slave', and who found themselves placed in this socially and culturally reinforced category, operated under a different set of rules and restrictions as others. But that seemingly clean and tidy system was an illusion, a legal fiction accepted by society for its utility. In practice, liminality characterised the position of enslaved people, who challenged and transgressed attempts at simple categorisations. In Islamicate societies, this quality is particularly apparent. So too is the potentially transitional state of enslavement, as demonstrated by the example of the umm walad: the mother of a child born from her owner. These papers explore the in-betweenness of slavery in these societies to better understand the dynamics of enslavement and freedom. |