We know that corporations are drawn to prisoners because they constitute a source of cheap and reliable labour. But what makes prison labour so attractive to governments?
Under the guise of ‘prisoner rehabilitation,’ US prison-made products are silently infiltrating consumer markets and propping up its carceral empire, much as they have throughout US history.
The contemporary enslavement of women, and sexual violence inflicted on them in times of war, are rooted in ‘everyday’ gender-based inequalities between men and women.
‘New abolitionists’ have failed to engage with the history and legacies of slavery and racism. They must learn more about the past if they are to clearly understand the present.
Beyond Trafficking and Slavery editors introduce their issue 'On History', which challenges the superficial narratives of anti-slavery used by 'modern-day abolitionists' and considers the lessons found in alternative historical approaches.
The unending series of mass drownings in the Mediterranean of migrants and refugees are not unfortunate tragedies: they are the dread outworking of the occluding of humanitarian concern by the rhetoric of border control.
The evocative imagery used in militant activism fails to address the historical underpinnings of trafficking and slavery while reinforcing neo-colonial representations of the ‘saviour’ and the ‘saved.’
American understandings of trafficking concentrate on so-called ‘sex trafficking,’ however existing laws address many forms of labour exploitation. Too little is known about the effects of such laws on all workers.
The European Commission is working on its ‘comprehensive migration agenda’ while migrants continue to die at sea. Its tenets should be self-evident, yet some proposals for it are troubling.
Migrant smuggling is often cruel and exploitative, yet it is often the only way to escape poverty or conflict. Addressing this problem requires a fundamental re-think of migration regimes, including refugee policy.
Scotland’s ‘zero tolerance’ stance on prostitution, ostensibly pursued to tackle human trafficking and reduce violence against women, has led to methods of crude and discriminatory campaigning.
The modern slavery act is seen as a righteous cause for many UK decision makers, however victims of exploitation do not share the simplistic moral narrative, seeking practical solutions not benevolence.
