In fighting slavery in Mali, some favour dialogue, others confrontation. Caste systems in parts of Mali define what people can and cannot do. Nobles call it tradition. Opponents call it hereditary slavery.
I researched this article in early 2020 to look at the impact of USG funding for local human rights groups fighting slavery, in a context where national and local officials refuse to acknowledge or condemn practices of bondage and servitude.
Political elites depend on local slaveholders for votes. Both refute slavery as 'voluntary social arrangements' prescribed by tribal hierarchies, or caste systems, into which some Malian citizens are born.
Tensions between tradition and modern statehood are made worse by chronic underdevelopment and government neglect of basic services for citizens, who in many parts of Mali today, are effectively stateless.
Published for African Arguments, under the Royal African Society.