Irreparable Evil

Irreparable Evil explores the legacy of slavery and its moral and political implications, offering a nuanced intervention into debates over reparations.

Engaging with moral philosophy, social theory, and postcolonial thinking, David Scott boldly argues that New World slavery was an 'absolute evil,' or irreparable harm, characterized by the destruction of African lifeworlds, for which a reparative response, both moral and material, is necessary. He does so through lucid prose and timely arguments that relate the Caribbean past to our contemporary present in persuasive and provocative ways.

Recommended.

The book offers not a resolution of the paradox of colonial slavery, but rather a historical and moral disposition one must inhabit to navigate this paradox.

David Scott is the Ruth and William Lubic Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University. His books include Refashioning Futures: Criticism After Postcoloniality (1999), Conscripts of Modernity: The Tragedy of Colonial Enlightenment (2004), Omens of Adversity: Tragedy, Time, Memory, Justice (2014), and Stuart Hall’s Voice: Intimations of an Ethics of Receptive Generosity (2017). Scott is the founder and editor of the journal Small Axe and director of the Small Axe Project.