Abstract
Modern slavery is a major topic of concern in international law and global governance, in civil society, and in academic debates. Yet, what does modern slavery mean, and can its highly different forms be covered in a single concept? This paper discusses these questions in three steps: First, it develops common definitions of modern slavery. Second, it discusses critical rejections of these definitions. The two camps that adhere to the definitions of modern slavery, and that reject them, respectively, face certain limits. In a third step, the paper takes up with the limits and the strengths of both. It suggests that the limits of definitions of modern slavery can be overcome by critical approaches; and that the limits of critical approaches can be overcome by definitions of modern slavery. The key is their integration into a human rights frame. Ultimately, the paper proposes an approach to modern slavery that neither relies on a binary distinction between slavery and non-slavery, nor does it strive for the abolishment of the concept of modern slavery. Rather, the paper calls for a normatively and contextually embedded approach within the human rights frame.
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Notes
For a discussion of the differences and similarities between former and contemporary forms of slavery, see Quirk 2006. One major difference is the legal status of slavery. The concept of modern slavery as opposed to historical forms of slavery can refer to both illegal and legal forms of slavery, thus becoming more dynamic and ambiguous (Crane 2013, p. 50). The paper refers to the concept of modern slavery to cover this heterogeneity.
Further documents are dedicated to parallel or sub-forms of modern slavery. One prominent issue area covers child trafficking and the worst forms of child labor. Another issue area is forced labor, defined in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Convention no. 29 (1930) and no. 105 (1957). The Bellagio-Harvard Guidelines recognize forced labor as slavery only when “the control over a person tantamount to possession” (§ 8) is exercised. The same differentiation applies to other practices and institutions similar to slavery. In order to not get lost with the numerous parallel forms and sub-forms of slavery, this chapter focuses only on some of the key documents that more generally deal with (modern) slavery.
I do not address the question, whether all forms of prostitution are a subordination of women, or whether sex workers need to be empowered in order to secure their working and living conditions, as it is being discussed extensively elsewhere (Kempadoo et al. 2012; Weitzer 2011; Quirk 2007; Ehrenreich and Hochschild 2004; Raymond and Hughes 2001).
These conditions include certain ways of perception and perception biases (Sikkink 2017, p. 160ff.), public attention being a limited resource, and limited funding opportunities more generally.
I borrow this idea from Spivak’s strategic essentialism that she describes to be misunderstood when it neglects its own time limit, financial situation, context, dependence, and historicity (Spivak et al. 1993).
Also see Choi-Fitzpatrick 2017 for a nuanced discussion of how profiteers from slavery rationalize slavery.
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Mende, J. The Concept of Modern Slavery: Definition, Critique, and the Human Rights Frame. Hum Rights Rev 20, 229–248 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-018-0538-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-018-0538-y