Podcast Summary:

New Books Network – Interview with Mélanie Lamotte, author of "By Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire" (Harvard UP, 2026)
Host: Lewis Waid
Guest: Melody (Mélanie) Lamotte
Date: February 18, 2026

Overview of the Episode

In this episode, Lewis Waid interviews historian Mélanie Lamotte about her groundbreaking new book, By Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire. The conversation explores Lamotte's argument that sexual relationships, race-making, and the labor of both enslaved and free people of non-European ancestry were foundational to the development of the French Empire between the 17th and 18th centuries. Lamotte uniquely integrates the histories of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, narrating the experiences of often-overlooked regions like Madagascar and Isle Bourbon, and advocates for a "history from below" that foregrounds marginalized voices. The episode also delves into the personal, scholarly, and methodological journeys behind Lamotte's research.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Meaning and Significance of "By Flesh and Toil" (03:00)

• Sexual Relationships in Empire-Building:
  • Sexual relations, especially between white men and women of African, Malagasy, South Asian, and Native American descent, were central to populating French colonies.
• Violence and Subjugation:
  • Extreme physical and sexual violence formed the bedrock of colonial rule.
• Race-Making and Policy:
  • 18th-century French policymakers attempted to construct racial hierarchies by policing interracial sex and marriage to uphold exploitative labor systems.
• Labor as Foundation:
  • Both enslaved and free people of non-European ancestry provided essential labor, often overlooked in studies focused mainly on slave labor in other empires.

“This was an empire of flesh and toil because the French empire was largely built on the labor of both enslaved and free people of non-European ancestry…little attention has been paid to slave labor and even more to the labor of free people of non-European ancestry.”
— Melody Lamotte (03:00)

2. Linking the Atlantic and Indian Oceans (05:01)

• Transoceanic Repertoires:
  • The book demonstrates how French imperial strategies, including assimilation, alliances, and metissage (mixed relationships), crossed oceanic divides.
• Unified Policies and Circulating Ideas:
  • Developments in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans influenced each other, unifying French imperial policy more than often recognized.
• Mapping and Connectivity:
  • Lamotte’s research includes digital mapping of vessels and people moving across colonial spaces, challenging the idea of a fragmented French Empire.
• Shared Struggles and Solidarity:
  • Connected people of non-European descent across oceans, showing early forms of solidarity and activism against oppression.

“By the early 18th century, a French empire was really beginning to take shape... through a coherent set of racial policies and also through the circulation of vessels, people, and ideas.”
— Melody Lamotte (07:43)

3. Madagascar and Isle Bourbon as Colonial Laboratories (09:24)

• Intermarriage and Demography:
  • In Madagascar, Frenchmen formed alliances with local elites through marriage, often with coerced or enslaved women, initiating unique demographic patterns.
  • The practices of intermarriage and assimilation transferred to Isle Bourbon (Reunion), resulting in complex mixed populations.
• Classification and Whiteness:
  • Children from mixed unions were at times classified as white, illustrating the fluidity and politics of racial categories.
• Influence on Empire-wide Policy:
  • Anti-miscegenation laws and racial classification systems pioneered here later influenced colonial policies elsewhere, such as Louisiana.

“Many of these alliances were actually sealed through intermarriage...most of these women were actually sexually coerced, enslaved women. And together these couples established many farming settlements.”
— Melody Lamotte (09:57)

• Precedent Anti-Colonial Revolt:
  • She highlights a 1674 Malagasy revolt—over a century before the Haitian Revolution—as a foundational anti-colonial movement.

4. History from Below—Researching “Way Below” (15:39)

• Beyond Top-down Narratives:
  • Calls for focusing on the lives, labor, and agency of ordinary people, especially women and non-Europeans, not just official policy.
• Archival Challenges:
  • Acknowledges the scarcity and bias of historical records, using sources like censuses, court testimonies, official correspondence, and notarial acts to reconstruct marginalized lives.
• Methodology:
  • Reads archival evidence “against the bias grain,” as Marissa Frances described, piecing together history from fragmentary, indirect evidence.

“We have to look at how ordinary people on the ground, and especially women and men of non-European ancestry, contributed...through their sexuality, through their labor, and also through their political actions.”
— Melody Lamotte (16:19)

5. The Personal History Behind the Book (18:34)

• Author’s Own Roots:
  • Lamotte’s family includes an enslaved Afro-Caribbean ancestor and a white father who served in the Algerian War—her own background powerfully shapes her questions and perspectives.
• Scholarly Journey:
  • Originally began as a student of Tudor England before mentors inspired her shift to French colonial history.
  • Archival work in multiple continents (Louisiana, Guadeloupe, Reunion, USA, Australia) enriched her approach and interdisciplinarity.

“My interest in French colonial history actually goes way back, and it is deeply personal because it begins with my own family history.”
— Melody Lamotte (18:38)

6. Writing for Inspiration and Resilience (23:10)

• Aim to Inspire:
  • Lamotte’s personal experiences with racism in France compelled her to write a history that highlights resilience, creativity, and resistance of colonized peoples.
• Not Just a Story of Oppression:
  • Emphasizes “an amazing story of resilience, of political action, of attempts to set limits to...French imperial power and coercion.”

“I wanted to write a history that would be inspiring to people out there who might feel like I did 20 years ago... It's also an amazing story of resilience, of political action...”
— Melody Lamotte (23:31)

7. Looking Forward: Future Work (24:31)

• Next Book—Lives of the Enslaved:
  • Plans a broad, pan-imperial study of enslaved people’s everyday lives, drawing from diverse methodologies and including her own family’s history.

“My second book will feature the first pan-imperial study of the daily lives of the enslaved in the French Empire in the Anglo-American historiography...It will feature a chapter about my own family history.”
— Melody Lamotte (24:41)

8. Closing Thoughts

• A Labor of Love:
  • The book is a result of a decade’s archival research, and Lamotte hopes readers will connect with the granular details and individual stories she uncovers.

“I really hope that they will enjoy the granular aspect of the book, that they will remember those stories, that they will remember those names. And I'm really glad that it's out there now.”
— Melody Lamotte (25:49)

Memorable Quotes and Moments

• On Method:

  “I read archival evidence against the bias grain of white colonizers.”
  — Melody Lamotte (16:56)

• On Connection:

  “So in the end, Al Bourbon ended up exercising an outsized influence on the history of the French empire.”
  — Melody Lamotte (13:52)

• On Personal Motivation:

  “Those histories have left me with...a lot of questions. You know, how did the French become so deeply involved in the slave trade? How did they build an empire that would eventually shape the lives of more than 100 million people across the world?”
  — Melody Lamotte (19:30)

Important Timestamps

• 03:00 – Why “By Flesh and Toil”
• 05:01 – Uniting Atlantic & Indian Ocean histories
• 09:24 – The significance of Madagascar and Isle Bourbon
• 15:39 – History from way below & research methodology
• 18:34 – Personal and scholarly history behind the book
• 23:10 – Writing for inspiration and resilience
• 24:31 – Next research project
• 25:49 – Closing thoughts and hopes for readers

This summary captures the layered arguments, personal approach, and innovative scope of Mélanie Lamotte’s work, as discussed in this rich and thoughtful episode. The episode is a valuable listen for anyone interested in Atlantic and Indian Ocean worlds, colonial history, race, gender, labor, and the histories of marginalized peoples.