Twelfth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

This paper sheds new light on the associational context in which the successful campaign to abolish the British slave trade took place. Zooming in on the key figure of Thomas Clarkson, it considers, in particular, the role of formal associations dedicated to the cause in London and across the provinces and the colonies in mobilising public opinion against the trade. It suggests that without an intimate knowledge and experience of associational life–experience acquired through a sustained participation in clubs, societies, and associations of all kinds–the British abolitionists of the late 18th and early 19th century would not have been so successful in their endeavours. While they did not invent modern social movements, as historians sometimes suggest, they certainly exploited the possibilities, strategies, and methods of associational organisation to a greater extent than ever before. Doing so, they paved the way for the movements of the so-called “Age of Reform” which soon unfolded across the English-speaking world. Their story serves as a reminder of the potential of civil society to act as an agent of social, political, and economic change in times of crisis.