Despite our tendencies to historicize slavery by repeatedly proclaiming its death or end, this volume shows we are mistaken in relegating it to the past, through focusing on a range of trajectories followed by slavery as an institution, as well the lives of particular groups of slave descendents. The contributions presented here show that existing studies of slavery and abolition in West Africa do not adequately portray the fragmented field, and this volume advances a new conceptual framework for understanding slavery in West Africa today by focusing on its recent reconfigurations rather than historical lineages.