{"product_id":"by-flesh-and-toil-how-sex-race-and-labor-shaped-the-early-french-empire","title":"By Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA richly detailed transoceanic history of the early French Empire, illuminating how it became bound by a common legal culture of race--as well as how enslaved and free people critically shaped the development of the colonies.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the beginning of the seventeenth century, French colonies and trading posts sprawled across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In the first pan-imperial history of the early French Empire in the English language, Mélanie Lamotte shows how an increasingly cohesive legal culture came to govern the lives of enslaved and free people of African, Malagasy, South Asian, and Native American descent. She also illuminates the important role played by these populations in the development of the empire, from Louisiana to Guadeloupe, Senegambia, Madagascar, Isle Bourbon, and India. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe early French Empire has often been portrayed as a fragmented conglomerate of isolated colonies or regions. Yet Lamotte shows that racial policies issued by the metropole, as well as by officials in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, significantly influenced one another. Rather than focusing on the actions of administrators, however, Lamotte also reveals the extensive influence of people on the ground--especially those of non-European descent. Through their sexuality and their labor, along with their socio-economic and political endeavors, they played a critical role in building the empire and setting its limits. As they sought justice for themselves, strove to protect their kin, and aimed to improve their social conditions, these individuals also pushed against the advancement of white dominion in unexpected ways. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eArchivally rich and rigorously documented, \u003ci\u003eBy Flesh and Toil\u003c\/i\u003e illuminates the transoceanic connections that united the French colonial world--and recasts people of African, Malagasy, South Asian, and Native American descent as key actors in the story of empire-building.","brand":"Harvard University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51984297296103,"sku":"9780674272835","price":49.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_97358be8-a956-434a-b164-a3868b736d09.jpg?v=1776315970","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/by-flesh-and-toil-how-sex-race-and-labor-shaped-the-early-french-empire","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}