Confronting Colonial Modernity in a French City: Slavery and Racism in Bordeaux’s Musée d’Aquitaine

Bordeaux’s Musée d’Aquitaine integrates the city's slaving past into its narrative, yet it falls short of fully addressing how slavery and coloniality shaped European modernity. The exhibit, while acknowledging Bordeaux’s role in Atlantic slavery, does not adequately explore the broader implications for colonial modernity or its lasting impact on racial divisions. This analysis reveals that current representations in Bordeaux—despite efforts to confront history—remain constrained by simplistic dichotomies of guilt and innocence, missing deeper connections between slavery, Enlightenment thought, and contemporary racism.

Sutherland, C. (2023). Confronting Colonial Modernity in a French City: Slavery and Racism in Bordeaux’s Musée d’Aquitaine. Heritage & Society, 17(1), 21–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/2159032x.2023.2266642