Comparative Focus on Legacies of Enslavement in the United Kingdom and France

Abstract Britain and France were key players in transatlantic colonial enslavement for centuries. The legacies of that past continue to affect millions of British and French citizens and descendants of colonized territories. Those legacies are tangible and intangible. They have shaped the way Britain and France chose to represent the past. This article examines how memory and legacies are related and how they emerge through tangible and intangible cultural heritage, thus providing spaces to remember the past. Tangible and intangible heritage constitute dynamic sites for contestation and liberation but can also be a volatile terrain for culture wars. In the 21st century, both countries are still unable to uproot racism fully and create a peaceful and collective memory about the period of enslavement. Citation: Otele, Olivette, ‘Comparative Focus on Legacies of Enslavement in the United Kingdom and France’ (30 Jan. 2026), in Ali Meghji and Sam Okoth Opondo (eds), Legacy and Memory, in Meena Dhanda (ed.), Oxford Intersections: Racism by Context (Oxford, online edn, Oxford Academic, 20 Mar. 2025 -), https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198945246.003.0048, accessed [date].