The Last Abolition

Angela Alonso is a Professor of Sociology at the University of São Paulo, Brazil and former Director of the Brazilian Center of Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP). The Last Abolition is a translation of Flores, Votos e Balas; o movimento abolicionista brasileiro, 1868–1888 (2015).

• Introduction; 1. Elite abolitionism; 2. Pro-slavery rhetoric; 3. The moral repertoire of abolitionism; 4. The theatricalization of politics; 5. Expansion; 6. Results-based abolitionism; 7. Votes: A movement/government alliance; 8. Bullets: Movement and countermovement; 9. The march to victory; 10. Future of the preterite; 11. Abolitionism as a social movement.

'An instant classic in Portuguese, The Last Abolition is now available in English in all its depth and richness. With a lifetime of research, Alonso beautifully narrates the Brazilian antislavery movement from its moral to political and governmental stages. We who study the Anglo-American abolition crusades will never look at our own subjects quite the same again after understanding the intrepid Brazilians and the entrenched obstacles they faced in ending slavery where four million Africans had disembarked and the slave trade lasted longest. This is a powerful story of human organization and moral force.' David W. Blight, Sterling Professor of History, Yale University and author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom