Fighting Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
History and Contemporary Policy

Leading social scientists and historians debate key controversies in the field of modern slavery and human trafficking studies.

Genevieve LeBaron (Edited by), Jessica R. Pliley (Edited by), David W. Blight (Edited by)

9781108822404, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 July 2021

285 pages
22.8 x 15 x 1.6 cm, 0.44 kg

'This is a book for anyone daring to understand the complex story of slavery, historically and contemporarily. Whether we call the present condition modern slavery or human exploitation, the authors remind us that it is in our power to make slavery disappear. Read this book, but do not ignore it. Too much is at stake.' Earl Lewis, Thomas C. Holt Distinguished University Professor of History, University of Michigan

Over the last two decades, fighting modern slavery and human trafficking has become a cause célèbre. Yet large numbers of researchers, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, workers, and others who would seem like natural allies in the fight against modern slavery and trafficking are hugely skeptical of these movements. They object to how the problems are framed, and are skeptical of the “new abolitionist” movement. Why? This book tackles key controversies surrounding the anti-slavery and anti-trafficking movements head on. Champions and skeptics explore the fissures and fault lines that surround efforts to fight modern slavery and human trafficking today. These include: whether efforts to fight modern slavery displace or crowd out support for labor and migrant rights; whether and to what extent efforts to fight modern slavery mask, naturalize, and distract from racial, gendered, and economic inequality; and whether contemporary anti-slavery and anti-trafficking crusaders' use of history are accurate and appropriate.

Preface David W. Blight
1. Introduction: fighting modern slavery from past to present Genevieve LeBaron and Jessica R. Pliley
2. Counting modern Slaves: Historicizing the Emancipatory Work of Numbers Gunther Peck
3. Working Analogies: Slavery Now and Then Anna Mae Duane and Erica Meiners
4. Free soil, Free Produce, Free Communities Kevin Bales and Alison Gardner
5. Ambivalent Abolitionist Legacies: The League of Nations' Investigations into Sex Trafficking, 1927–1934 Jessica R. Pliley
6. Mexico's New Slavery: a Critique of Neo-Abolitionism to Combat Human Trafficking (la trata de personas) Grace Peña-Delgado
7. Undermining Labor Power: the False Promise of the Industry-Led Anti-Slavery Initiatives Elena Shih, J. J. Rosenbaum and Penelope Kyritsis
8. A Market in Deception? Ethically Certifying Exploitative Supply Chains Genevieve LeBaron
9. Preventing Human Trafficking: the Role of the IOM and the UN Global Compact on migration Janie Chuang
10. Integrated and indivisible: the Sustainable Development Agenda of Modern Slavery Survivor Narratives Zoe Trodd, Andrea Nicholson and Lauren Eglen
Afterword Luis C. deBaca.

Subject Areas: Human rights [JPVH], International relations [JPS], Slavery & abolition of slavery [HBTS], General & world history [HBG]