Shrimp peeling in Thailand. Thierry Falise for the ILO/Flickr. (CC 2.0 by-nc-nd)
My particular interest is in the business and organisational dynamics of forced labour: how and why it is deployed as part of a business model; how forced labour is managed; how forced labour operates within and between organisations, including the supply chain; the impacts and interrelationships between forced labour and consumers, workers, and other stakeholders of business; and the role of multi-stakeholder initiatives and other mechanisms in combatting forced labour.
These kinds of questions are rich with opportunity for extending our understanding of the phenomenon of forced labour in unique and important ways. After all, most forms of forced labour take place in a business context – mainly informal, but also with clear and significant links to the formal sector. Moreover, forced labour is often driven by business imperatives. Thus, we need to take the business of forced labour seriously if we are to really understand it and address it in a meaningful way.
