Of Bondage
Debt, Property, and Personhood in Early Modern England
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Narrated by:
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Dana Roth
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By:
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Amanda Bailey
About this listen
The late 16th-century penal debt bond, which allowed an unsatisfied creditor to seize the body of his debtor, set in motion a series of precedents that would shape the legal, philosophical, and moral issue of property-in-person in England and America for centuries. Focusing on this historical juncture at which debt litigation was not merely an aspect of society but seemed to engulf it completely, Of Bondage examines a culture that understood money and the body of the borrower as comparable forms of property that impinged on one another at the moment of default.
Amanda Bailey shows that the early modern theater, itself dependent on debt bonds, was well positioned to stage the complex ethical issues raised by a system of forfeiture that registered as a bodily event. While plays about debt like The Merchant of Venice and The Custom of the Country did not use the language of political philosophy, they were artistically and financially invested in exploring freedom as a function of possession. By revealing dramatic literature's heretofore unacknowledged contribution to the developing narrative of possessed persons, Amanda Bailey not only deepens our understanding of creditor-debtor relations in the period but also sheds new light on the conceptual conditions for the institutions of indentured servitude and African slavery. Of Bondage is vital not only for students and scholars of English literature but also for those interested in British and colonial legal history, the history of human rights, and the sociology of economics.
The book is published by University of Pennsylvania Press.
"A compelling account of the role of debt in the early modern imaginary...raises important historical questions." (Sixteenth Century Journal)
"Absorbing and beautifully written." (Jonathan Gil Harris, George Washington University)
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In Shakespeare's most controversial play, the opposing values of justice and mercy must be resolved. Antonio promises money to help his friend Bassanio woo Portia. He borrows the sum needed from the cruel Shylock, but there will be a dreadful penalty if the loan is not repaid. The golden world of Portia's Belmont calls forth some of Shakespeare's most lyrical love poetry. But the dark shadow of Shylock is never far from the heart of this brilliant comedy as it moves toward its courtroom climax.
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One Of Shakespeare's Best
- By M. J. Christensen on 06-07-15
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Slavery and Islam
- By: Jonathan A.C. Brown
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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What happens when authorities you venerate condone something you know is wrong? What does this mean about what you’ve been venerating? No issue brings this question into starker contrast than slavery. Every major religion and philosophy condoned or approved of it, but in modern times there is nothing seen as more evil. Americans confront this crisis of authority when they erect statues of Founding Fathers who slept with their slaves. And Muslims faced it when ISIS revived sex slavery, justifying it with verses from the Quran and the practice of Muhammad.
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A Bold and Broad Study of a Difficult Topic
- By Rob Squires on 02-21-20
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The Honor Code
- How Moral Revolutions Happen
- By: Kwame Anthony Appiah
- Narrated by: Kwame Anthony Appiah
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
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In this groundbreaking work, Kwame Anthony Appiah, hailed as "one of the most relevant philosophers today" (New York Times Book Review), changes the way we understand human behavior and the way social reform is brought about. In brilliantly arguing that new democratic movements over the last century have not been driven by legislation from above, Appiah explores the end of the duel in aristocratic England, the tumultuous struggles over foot binding in 19th-century China, the uprising of ordinary people against Atlantic slavery, and much more.
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Horribly Boring
- By Merle N. Savedow on 02-10-21
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The Idea of America
- Reflections on the Birth of the United States
- By: Gordon S Wood
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The preeminent historian of the American Revolution explains why it remains the most significant event in our history
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Sophisticated analyses
- By Roger on 01-25-12
By: Gordon S Wood
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Inglorious Empire
- What the British Did to India
- By: Shashi Tharoor
- Narrated by: Shashi Tharoor
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 18th century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannons, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalized racism, and caused millions to die from starvation. British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed, but Shashi Tharoor takes on and demolishes this position, demonstrating how every supposed imperial "gift" was designed in Britain's interests alone.
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An entertaining and provocative history
- By James Moseley on 01-07-20
By: Shashi Tharoor
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The Secret Knowledge
- On the Dismantling of American Culture
- By: David Mamet
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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For the past 30 years, David Mamet has been a controversial and defining force in theater and film, championing the most cherished liberal values along the way. In some of the great movies and plays of our time, his characters have explored the ethics of the business world, embodied the struggles of the oppressed, and faced the flaws of the capitalist system. But in recent years Mamet has had a change of heart.
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Mamet's Rubicon
- By Kirk on 08-13-11
By: David Mamet
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Suicide of the West
- How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy
- By: Jonah Goldberg
- Narrated by: Jonah Goldberg
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Only once in the last 250,000 years have humans stumbled upon a way to lift ourselves out of the endless cycle of poverty, hunger, and war that defines most of history. If democracy, individualism, and the free market were humankind’s destiny, they should have appeared and taken hold a bit earlier in the evolutionary record. The emergence of freedom and prosperity was nothing short of a miracle.
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Put some gratitude in your attitude
- By Amazon Customer on 04-25-18
By: Jonah Goldberg
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Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia
- By: David Graeber
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Pirates have long lived in the realm of romance and fantasy, symbolizing risk, lawlessness, and radical visions of freedom. But at the root of this mythology is a rich history of pirate societies—vibrant, imaginative experiments in self-governance and alternative social formations at the edges of the European empire.
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A fun historical analysis of Pirate political systems
- By Ian Turner on 01-30-23
By: David Graeber
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The Devil in the Shape of a Woman
- Witchcraft in Colonial New England
- By: Carol F. Karlsen
- Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Author Carol F. Karlsen reveals the social construction of witchcraft in 17th-century New England and illuminates the larger contours of gender relations in that society and attempts to answer the question why some women were vulnerable to accusations of witchcraft and possession.
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Vital scholarship beautifully narrated.
- By Audrey on 10-13-19
By: Carol F. Karlsen
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How Much is Enough?
- Money and the Good Life
- By: Edward Skidelsky
- Narrated by: Clay Teunis
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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What constitutes the good life? What is the true value of money? Why do we work such long hours merely to acquire greater wealth? These are some of the questions that many asked themselves when the financial system crashed in 2008. This book tackles such questions head-on.The authors begin with the great economist John Maynard Keynes. In 1930 Keynes predicted that, within a century, per capita income would steadily rise, people’s basic needs would be met, and no one would have to work more than fifteen hours a week.
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Not what I expected at all!
- By Chi on 05-22-23
By: Edward Skidelsky
What listeners say about Of Bondage
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Philo
- 02-22-20
Owning and owing: what, in us, could be traded?
That is the deepest question always floating behind this work. And for that, and some great bits of related history, four stars. The author understands the language of credit and law, historically and now, and the arts, too. Then, she uses a freedom to range across borders between disciplines while constantly mapping out the tricky relationship between the legal at the personal-behavioral. The word-play and concept-play are whip-smart. The language might be called high-academic, but seeing beyond this, AND giving a careful listening (given a strong vocabulary going in) , to the originality and value here will pay off. This book follows somewhat along lines laid down by David Graeber in Debt: the First 5,000 Years, which similarly has interesting ideas and history tidbits, alongside (what I see as some of Graeber's) sometimes-dubious assumptions and characterizations. But this book manages to keep a more (I think) calm, neutral and disciplined approach and tone and manages to be enlightening, whatever your biases or mine may be. How do the legal formations of promises map and link into our behaviors, our bodies? If we own our bodies and labors, what parts of these things can be pledged, alienated, sold in advance, made into tradeable bonds? What are the values of these intangible things?
This book has plenty to provoke thought, and moment to moment, shows sparkles of insightful brilliance. I like the quotes of laws and contracts. It covers ground much debated long ago but to many, obscure now. This book is not simply about theater and long-ago days, and musty old laws more cavalier about pledging and trading bodies and body parts. It is about what we as creative people will shape into the credit markets of the future. It is about things technology (legal-social and otherwise) will make possible to us to unlock, create and trade value.
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