Brattle Consultants Quantify Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery in Pro Bono Paper
Prepared for The University of the West Indies and The American Society of International Law’s Second Symposium on Reparations Under International Law
The harm caused by transatlantic chattel slavery is vast, and its repercussions continue to resonate in the lives of the descendants of the enslaved. Scholars have long worked to document, study, and quantify these harms.
In May 2021, The American Society of International Law (ASIL), in partnership with The University of the West Indies, hosted its first symposium on Reparations Under International Law for Enslavement of African Persons in the Americas and the Caribbean. Convened by Judge Patrick Robinson of the International Court of Justice, symposium participants discussed the illegality of transatlantic chattel slavery under international law at the time it was perpetrated, and examined the historical context and contemporary legacy of transatlantic chattel slavery.
A second symposium took place in February 2023, focused on the calculation of reparations owed for the violations of international law arising from and caused by transatlantic chattel slavery. For this second symposium, members of ASIL engaged experts from The Brattle Group to build an economic framework to help calculate reparations for the violations of international law regarding transatlantic chattel slavery. Following the second symposium, a paper containing Brattle’s analysis was presented, along with introductory remarks by Judge Patrick Robinson, at an event held at The University of the West Indies on June 8, 2023.
Brattle’s team quantified certain elements of reparations to be $100–131 trillion. These reparations are for harms separated into two categories of damages: harm during the period when chattel slavery was carried out ($77–108 trillion) and continuing harm post-enslavement ($23 trillion). According to Brattle’s estimates, the harms during the period of enslavement were inflicted on 19 million people over four centuries, including Africans kidnapped and transported to the Americas and Caribbean and those born into slavery, for a total of 802 million years of life to be compensated.
The Brattle team also identified several additional pre- and post-abolition harms – ranging from deprivation of citizenship and healthcare to racial violence and climate insecurity – that could not be economically quantified, as the available economic tools are not appropriate to measure some of the categories of harm or because of data limitations.
The Report on Reparation for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery in the Americas and the Caribbean was authored by Principals Dr. Coleman Bazelon and Dr. Alberto Vargas, Senior Research Analyst Rohan Janakiraman, and Research Analyst Mary Olson. The Full Report, comprising the Introduction, Brattle’s Quantification of Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery, and the three Annexes; a recording of the February 2023 Symposium presentation; and a link to a radio interview regarding the report are below.
View radio interview of Dr. Bazelon by Nationwide 90 FM
View the June 2023 Brattle presentation at The University of the West Indies
