The Embarrassment of Slavery examines, for the first time, the salience of slavery and abolition in the history of American colonialism and Philippine nationalism. In doing so, it makes major contributions to the global and comparative study of slavery, abolition, colonialism, and nationalism. Salman also expands our understanding of slavery and abolition by explaining the link between the globalization of nationalism and the spread of antislavery as hegemonic ideology in the modern world. Rather than treat antislavery ideology and discourse as distinctly "Western" phenomena, this book shows how dominant political movements in the colonial Philippines appropriated antislavery rhetoric and naturalized it as a part of a discourse on national emancipation from colonial rule. This sophisticated, thoughtful study shows how the meaning of slavery enabled Americans and Filipinos to distinguish their national identities and also bounded them together.

Published in 2001.