| _version_ | 1866901183942098944 |
|---|---|
| author | Arı, Ali |
| author_facet | Arı, Ali |
| contents | <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div><span>This article applies </span><span>Registration Regime Theory </span><span>(RRT) to the historical institution of </span> <span>transatlantic slavery in order to examine how systems of registration functioned as </span> <span>mechanisms of human commodification, legal fixation, and ontological transformation. While </span> <span>slavery is often analyzed primarily through violence, economic exploitation, or racial </span> <span>ideology, this study argues that bureaucratic and archival infrastructures played a decisive role </span> <span>in stabilizing and reproducing enslaved status across generations. </span> <span>Through ship manifests, plantation ledgers, property registries, birth records, and legal </span> <span>documentation, enslaved individuals were transformed into legally recognized commodities. </span> <span>These registration systems did not merely record ownership; they produced it. By inscribing </span> <span>human beings into administrative categories of property, colonial states and economic </span> <span>institutions converted biological life into transferable capital. </span> <span>The article further demonstrates how the hereditary transmission of enslaved status depended </span> <span>on the continuity of archival inscription. Registration functioned as a mechanism of social </span> <span>fixation, ensuring that enslavement persisted beyond individual lifetimes and became </span> <span>structurally embedded within legal and economic systems. </span> <span>Finally, the study draws a comparative connection between historical slavery and </span> <span>contemporary forms of forced labor, including migrant labor regimes, debt bondage, and </span> <span>state-administered coercive labor systems. In these modern contexts, digital documentation, </span> <span>biometric identification, and contractual registration operate as updated forms of the same </span> <span>underlying logic: the transformation of laboring bodies into administratively controlled assets. </span> <span>By reframing slavery through the lens of registration power, this article contributes to broader </span> <span>debates on sovereignty, bureaucracy, and the political ontology of legal recognition. It argues </span></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div></div> <div><span>that domination is sustained not only through coercion, but through the administrative </span> <span>production of social reality.</span></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_18470693 |
| institution | Zenodo |
| language | |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | Registration Regime Theory and Transatlantic Slavery: The Ledger as the Eternal Chain Arı, Ali Registration Regimes Slavery Bureaucracy Archival Power Forced Labor Political Ontology Human Commodification <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div><span>This article applies </span><span>Registration Regime Theory </span><span>(RRT) to the historical institution of </span> <span>transatlantic slavery in order to examine how systems of registration functioned as </span> <span>mechanisms of human commodification, legal fixation, and ontological transformation. While </span> <span>slavery is often analyzed primarily through violence, economic exploitation, or racial </span> <span>ideology, this study argues that bureaucratic and archival infrastructures played a decisive role </span> <span>in stabilizing and reproducing enslaved status across generations. </span> <span>Through ship manifests, plantation ledgers, property registries, birth records, and legal </span> <span>documentation, enslaved individuals were transformed into legally recognized commodities. </span> <span>These registration systems did not merely record ownership; they produced it. By inscribing </span> <span>human beings into administrative categories of property, colonial states and economic </span> <span>institutions converted biological life into transferable capital. </span> <span>The article further demonstrates how the hereditary transmission of enslaved status depended </span> <span>on the continuity of archival inscription. Registration functioned as a mechanism of social </span> <span>fixation, ensuring that enslavement persisted beyond individual lifetimes and became </span> <span>structurally embedded within legal and economic systems. </span> <span>Finally, the study draws a comparative connection between historical slavery and </span> <span>contemporary forms of forced labor, including migrant labor regimes, debt bondage, and </span> <span>state-administered coercive labor systems. In these modern contexts, digital documentation, </span> <span>biometric identification, and contractual registration operate as updated forms of the same </span> <span>underlying logic: the transformation of laboring bodies into administratively controlled assets. </span> <span>By reframing slavery through the lens of registration power, this article contributes to broader </span> <span>debates on sovereignty, bureaucracy, and the political ontology of legal recognition. It argues </span></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div> <div></div> <div><span>that domination is sustained not only through coercion, but through the administrative </span> <span>production of social reality.</span></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> |
| title | Registration Regime Theory and Transatlantic Slavery: The Ledger as the Eternal Chain |
| topic | Registration Regimes Slavery Bureaucracy Archival Power Forced Labor Political Ontology Human Commodification |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18470693 |