When slavery was abolished in the American South, white plantation owners did not want to pay the market rate for free labour. Instead, they clamoured for Black Codes, vagrancy laws, contract-enforcement, anti-enticement statutes, debt peonage, convict leasing, segregation and disfranchisement. By restricting Black workers’ mobility and exit options, white elites sought to maximise rents. Interestingly, I find a striking parallel in colonial Africa - in terms of control of women and their labour.. More to come in my next essay.