In this article I argue that among the southern Betsileo slave descendants are essentialised by free descendants. After explaining how this striking case of psychological essentialism manifests in the local context, I provide experimental evidence for it and discuss the results of three cognitive tasks that I ran in the field. I then suggest that slaves were not essentialised in the pre-colonial era and contend that the essentialist construal only became entrenched in the aftermath of the 1896 abolition of slavery, which paradoxically triggered the historical process of essentialisation.

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Altérités, inégalités et mobilités dans les îles de l'océan Indien Pourquoi ne pas les épouser ? L'évitement du mariage avec les descendants d'esclaves dans le sud Betsileo (Madagascar) Why not marry them? Avoiding marriage with the descendants of slaves in southern Betsileo (Madagascar)