In the public eye: Steve Cushion’s “Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World”
Well, Steve Cushion is really impressing us, here at Monthly Review Press. First off, he trekked all the way to London and showed up to help us table at the Anarchist Book Fair this fall. Then he joined our friend Tony Zurbrugg at the Historical Materialism Conference. Since then he’s been extremely active making the rounds, getting the spirit and meaning of his deeply researched book out to those who need it – which really is all of us.
Your next opportunity to see Steve Cushion speak, in person, will be at Bookmarks Bookshop in Central London in April. So keep your eyes peeled, come spring.
About Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World
We often hear it said that Britain profited from slavery. But this assumption of collective responsibility obscures the extremely unequal distribution of benefits that accrued to different sections of the population. The institution of slavery entailed a unique combination of exploitation and expropriation anchored in patterns of conspicuous consumption by the wealthy, and intertwined with the textile, food, agriculture, construction, transportation, infrastructure and insurance industries. It was floated by the same banking and commodity trading systems that still remain today. Taking a class analysis, this book links the histories of capitalists and workers in Britain and the Caribbean, tracing the dynamics of profit-seeking and exploitation, resistance and solidarity, on both sides of the Atlantic.
STEVE CUSHION IN ACTION
One of the most impressive things about Cushion is his extremely active approach to engaging the public around the topic of reparations, and using this book in particular, and his writings in general, as a means of pushing for meaningful change on the ground. For that reason, on his book page we’re featuring his prolific writings on reparations up top.
Newsletter of the Socialist History Society: Cushion is a major force in this publication. Check it out: https://www.socialisthistorysociety.co.uk/?p=1870
Monthly Review Magazine: “Neocolonialism through Debt: How French and U.S. Banks Underdeveloped Haiti”. Find it here: https://monthlyreview.org/articles/neocolonialism-through-debt-how-french-and-u-s-banks-underdeveloped-haiti/?cst
Caribbean Labour Solidarity: “Why Reparations for African Enslavement is a Social Justice Issue for Everyone”, by Ayodele Martin, Kwabena Dennot Nyack, Luke Daniels and Steve Cushion. “The call for reparations is part of a broader global movement seeking justice for historical crimes, recognising that addressing past injustices is essential for a more equitable future. Reparations are not just about money, though financial redress must play a part. Reparations must also involve a national apology, official acknowledgement of wrongdoing, the inclusion of accurate history in school curricula, structural reform to dismantle institutional racism and a commitment to repair the damage by means of development aid, educational partnerships, and cultural restoration…” Read more…
Key Points: Report of “Dialogue on Reparatory Justice” with Caricom Reparations Commission (November 2025)
Below are the bullet-points from the “Dialogue on Reparatory Justice” with the Caricom Reparations Commission, hosted by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies in November 2025. Cushion wrote: “On Tuesday 18 November, I attended a discussion on “partnering with the Caricom Reparations Commission for continued advocacy and engagement in the UK in 2026 and beyond, towards increasing public awareness and support for CARICOM’s reparations claim” aiming to “bring the CRC delegation together with academics, civil society representatives, experts and other stakeholders”. it was hosted by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. I was invited as a member of the executive committee of Caribbean Labour Solidarity, but I indicated that I was also a member of UCU. This is the first occasion that the Commission travels to the UK as a body to engage with key stakeholders on the reparations agenda.
- CARICOM is preparing an updated version of the 10 point plan, which will take the form of a manifesto. They are also preparing a “Regional Negotiations Strategy” to bring some uniformity to negotiations with non-state institutions, such as Churches, Families, Universities, that are prepared to discuss Reparations. These are in draft form and will be published as soon as the CARICOM heads of government approve them. The negotiations will take a “Developmental Approach”.
- There are developments in the partnership of CARICOM with the African Union. A joint conference was held in Addis Ababa which issued a joint declaration. [Press Release here: https://au.int/sites/default/files/pressreleases/45329-pr-PR-_THE_2ND_AFRICA-CARICOM_SUMMIT.pdf] There is to be more co-ordination with international advocacy bodies eg UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. The African Union will set up an African Committee of Experts on Reparations. CARICOM will have a representative on this body, currently Barbados’ Ambassador to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), David Comissiong.
- One of the priorities of the Reparations Commission will be the decolonisation of the remaining colonies in the Caribbean.
- It was argued that the positive response from institutions such as the University of Glasgow give a positive example to national governments.
- The apology issued by the King of the Netherlands has been withdrawn by the recently elected right-wing government.
- The Climate Crisis, brought to international attention by the hurricane damage in Jamaica and flooding in Barbados, makes the fight for Climate Justice even more imperative.
- The government of Jamaica is preparing a petition to the King, this will require support on the ground.
- Many in the room were “disappointed” in David Lammy, who is now in a position to implement many of the things he has advocated in his rise to power, but which he now seems to have forgotten. Particularly the demands of the TUC London East and South East Reparations Steering Group: Support the campaign to overturn the convictions of all those who were convicted for their role in the historic 1823 Demerara rebellion by enslaved workers. This should be extended to all enslaved persons executed or punished for acts of resistance. Which he advocated in the House of Commons in 2022.
- I gave David Comissiong a copy of my book Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World and he informed me that the Barbados Reparations Commission is in the process of reprinting my The Drax Family Dynasty and the Business of Slavery as an educational tool in Barbados.”
University College of London blog: “Profit and loss take place at the level of individual enterprises. A single businessman making an exceptional profit can be significant in promoting economic development, but his role is obscured if we only look at average figures and global statistics. The fact that many of the early developers of industrialisation, as well as their financiers, made their initial capital through slavery and trafficking is therefore more important than the generalisations.
The Drax dynasty provide the core of the narrative, as generation after generation they were at the centre of the business of slavery, as well as the ideological creation of white supremacy, the early stages of human resource management, the effects of soil depletion, the transfer of capital back to the metropolis, the use and abuse of parliamentary politics and the relationship between landowning in the Caribbean and in Britain….”
PRESENTATIONS:
In addition to attending the Caricom Reparations Commission, here’s some of what Steve Cushion was up to in the time around the release of his book: He engaged in a Reparations and Restitution Conference at the University of Brighton, and gave a paper based on Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World. Luke Daniels, the President of Caribbean Labour Solidarity, also publicised the book when he spoke on reparations at a meeting of Quakers in Bristol. He spoke at the 22nd annual Historical Materialism conference at SOAS. And Cushion spoke at an in-person launch in the Institute of Historical Research of the University of London, all while getting ready for an online launch hosted by UCL Institute of the Americas (Scroll down to watch, or click here for YouTube: https://youtu.be/TnU_FrlJvTg).
-Cushion presented his Monthly Review Magazine article to Caribbean Labour Solidarity: https://youtu.be/oMPnwpt97pA
-Slavery and Big Business: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9dWnyphwO0&t=4s
-The Church and Reparations: https://youtu.be/jvvGMWvkCQg
-The Drax Family Dynasty & the Business of Slavery: https://youtu.be/7iMppCfho2s
Also see Steve Cushion’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@stevecushion/videos. Many of the above presentations appear along with the video recordings of the Institute of the Americas Caribbean Seminar, Caribbean Labour Solidarity and the Socialist History Society.
DIGEST: Reviews, interviews, appearances
Press
Znet/Systemic Disorder: “More than one mythology is punctured in the latest contribution to setting the record straight when it comes to capitalism and slavery, Slavery in the British Empire and its Legacy in the Modern World by Stephen Cushion. So embedded was the concept of slave labor and the “property rights” that maintained it for centuries, that the British government handed out massive payments to slavers when slavery was finally abolished in the empire. How much? At the time, 1834, a total of £20 million was given as compensation for the freeing of the enslaved. (No compensation for the enslaved themselves, and they had to serve an addition four years of “apprenticeship” that was slavery under a new name.) That would be a lot of money even today but was a truly fantastic sum of money at the time. Dr. Cushion estimates that sum is equivalent to about £25 billion in today’s sterling!” Read more here….
Against the Grain: What did the trafficking and labor of enslaved Africans do to and for the British empire? What role did slavery in the Caribbean play in capitalism’s expansion in Britain? Steve Cushion weighed in on these and other matters, including key dimensions of British abolitionism and stances taken by British elites and workers toward the U.S. Civil War. Listen here: https://kpfa.org/episode/against-the-grain-november-3-2025/
Morning Star: “Britain’s Grubby Empire was Built on Business of Slavery”. Cushion recently had a letter published in reply to a letter entitled “Brits didn’t benefit from slave trade”, which we will be posting shortly.
Counterfire: “Steve Cushion’s history of British slavery firmly roots the system in the exploitation of labour, and shows why compensation is a class question,” finds John Westmoreland
Counterpunch: “Situating Slavery’s Legacy,” by Seth Sandronsky and “We Can’t Understand Capitalism Without Understanding Slavery” by Pete Dolack
KritikBakis: Pete Dolack‘s article has also been translated into Turkish!
