Georg Hegel's Phenomenology Of Spirit

Social scientists often reference Georg Hegel’s work in Phenomenology of Spirit, as he attempts to develop the notion of self and the limits of its autonomy in society. In it, he describes what is often termed the master-slave dialectic. The master-slave dialectic describes the internal, or if taken more literally, the external struggle of recognition between two figures, the master and the slave. Their relationship is at once both reflective and reflexive, as one begins to understand the other as the antithesis of his or herself, giving an identity not only to the other, but also to his or herself. This dialectic places the figures in conflict with one another, where the historically determined means for resolution is the social defeat of

In his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, he begins with a detailed description of life in his homeland. He describes a culture that had a hierarchal, patriarchal system, not unlike that of Pocahontas’ tribe. There is an established government, with chiefs and judges, one of which, is his father. It is important to note that while Equiano states that he was slated to claim the status of “grandeur”, he never reached that point in his narrative before he was kidnapped and sold as but another slave in the Middle Passage. Thus, early life for Equiano, while perhaps better than some of his counterparts, was still of the same class, dictated by the governance of these socially superior figures. Similar to Pocahontas too, Equiano eventually regained a “free” status. But unlike Pocahontas who is still bound by the voyeuristic gaze of the men surrounding her, Equiano’s unfreedom stems from the social stigma and struggle of being non-white European. As he recounted during his time in the Barbados, “as I knew there was little or no law for a free negro here […].” The social intolerance of African people, while different in the Caribbean from in England or America, was still clear.

Though to some extent all three may have seemingly lived, for a brief period of time, individualistically, they are still bound to the social, cultural, familial, and political restraints that mitigate their supposed independence. As Hegel suggests in his master-slave dialectic, all people are subjected to this greater social machine, a static dichotomy. Therefore, their tangible enslavement is not a break from their own sovereignty, but rather is an awakening and acceptance to the pervasive unfreedom and social defeat they have always