Understanding

Our work focuses on assessing and evaluating how we understand slavery in war through the development of innovative digital tools and methodologies. In blending archival research with computational methods, we aim to identify, measure, and interpret how slavery has manifested across conflict zones from the Haitian Revolution (1791) to the present day. We aim to create new digital solutions for exploring slavery in war, harmonise existing contemporary and historical datasets, and pioneer the use of machine learning to analyse diverse sources including survivor narratives, oral histories, and memoirs.  

Drawing on this data landscape, we will analyse different conflict case studies in order to understand the strategic and tactical roles of slavery across different types, intensities, and durations of war. Our analysis will also examine the intersecting factors that shape slavery’s emergence and impacts - including gender, ethnicity, poverty, and environmental vulnerability — and assess forms of resistance in diverse conflict contexts. Our work will closely align with the conceptual developments and forecasting tools created across the Centre, to produce evidence-based insights that challenge existing paradigms and inform future prevention strategies.