A review by sinthomo
Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study by Orlando Patterson

I have two major points of contention with this book, for which I'll borrow a summary from this review:
https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.2307/1899753

Patterson's definition of slavery depends on precepts that are by no means
confirmed by what one knows of slavery in the Americas at large. If slaves
were in fact "generally dishonored," how does he explain the degrees of rank
found among all groups of slaves--that is, the scale of "reputation" and
authority accorded, or at least acknowledged, by slave and master alike?
Second, if slaves were by definition "natally alienated," they would have had
no chance of establishing the vigorous and effective family life that has been
demonstrated by Barry Higman for the Caribbean and Herbert Gutman for the
United States.

My criticism is in a sense opposite to Craton's—I do not contest that the condition of slavery is defined by powerlessness, alienation, and lack of honor. Rather, the issue is these qualities can be found in all other relations of domination, and that slavery differs in the intensity, at least symbolically, of these qualities, for which it then becomes the referent, the arch domination.

However, I could not have even arrived at this conclusion without Patterson's meticulous and lucid analysis, drawn from 66 (!) slave holding societies across the world and throughout history. In the process of characterizing slavery, he tests the conceptual boundaries of property, kinship, dependency, authority, power, and honor. I expect I'll be coming back this in years to come.