Modern-Day Slavery

Modern slavery is a complex global problem that extends far beyond the criminal sphere. It has received much attention in recent years, and in many countries the problem has also been addressed on the political agenda. Treating modern slavery as a single problem can quickly become a pitfall, where one overlooks how the problem is part of complex worldwide systems. The course SAM1060E invites you to reflect on ‘modern slavery’ as a global and human rights problem that is rooted in socio-economic challenges and weak social structures. The course will assist you in examining the problem critically and provide an introduction to some of the root causes that underlie structural exploitation: poverty, inequality, migration, abuse, trade, political and cultural structures.

The student:

• has a good understanding of the history and root causes of slavery, human trafficking, and exploitation.
• has gained knowledge of the of the legal, moral, and theological basis for addressing human trafficking and modern slavery.
• has a good understanding of the complexities of modern slavery, including definitions, human rights, power structures, and politics.
• has gained knowledge of different social strategies to address injustice, with an emphasis on modern slavery.

The student:

• has the ability to reflect on human dignity and human rights.
• is capable of analyzing modern slavery and human trafficking as complex phenomena.
• has developed the ability to analyze and understand strategies for social change.
• has the ability to think critically and ask relevant questions.
• has the ability to reflect on justifications for human dignity and human rights..

The student:

• has strengthened their critical thinking skills.
• has the ability to approach complex social problems with distance and reflected commitment.

The course is structured around lectures, group work, presentations and case studies. The course length is 32 lecture hours.

Allain, J. (2012). Bellagio Harvard Guidelines on the Legal Parameters of Slavery. Available via this link: http://www.law.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/FileStore/Filetoupload,651854,en.pdf (7 pages)

Allain, J., Behbahani, L., Crane, A., LeBaron, G. (2017) Governance gaps in eradicating forced labor: From global to domestic supply chains. Regulation and Governance, 13:1, pp. 86-106. (20 pages).

Awakoyo, A., Jone, T. (2019, 20 June). Are your tinned tomatoes picked by slave labour, The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/20/tomatoes-italy-mafia-migrant-labour-modern-slavery (3 pages).

Bales, Kevin (2012). Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, Revised edition. Berkley: University of California Press. (300 pages)

Bales, K., Drejer, C. (2018). #SlaveTech: A Snapshot of Slavery in a Digital Age. Frekk Forlag. From pp 12-139. (128 pages)

Brysk, A., Choi-Fitzpatrick, A. eds. (2012) From Human Trafficking to Human Rights: Reframing Contemporary Slavery. University of Pennsylvania Press (216 pages).

Dang, M. (2014) An open letter to the anti-trafficking movement. Foreword in Murphy, Laura (2014). Survivors of slavery: Modern-day slave narratives. New York: Columbia University Press. Access pdf here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ee517995ce62276749898ed/t/5f21537298148a15d80a1023/1596019575237/sos-preface-pages-3.pdf (10 pages).

Digidiki, V., Bhabha, J. (2018). «Sexual abuse and exploitation of unaccompanied migrant children in Greece: Identifying risk factors and gaps in services during the European migration crisis,» Children and Youth Services Review, 92(C), pp. 114-121. (7 pages).

Hopper, E. K. (2017) ‘Trauma-Informed Psychological Assessment of Human Trafficking Survivors,’ Women & Therapy, 40:1-2, pp. 12-30. (18 pages)

International Labour Organisation (2014, 03 February). Why definitions matter. https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_234854/lang–en/index.htm (2 pages).

Sharapov, K., Hoff, S., Gerasimov, B. (2019) ‘Editorial: Knowledge is Power, Ignorance is Bliss: Public perceptions and responses to human trafficking’, Anti-Trafficking Review, issue 13, pp. 1-11. (11 pages).

Ras, I., Gregoriou, C. (2019) ‘The Quest to End Modern Slavery: Metaphors in corporate modern slavery statements’, Anti-Trafficking Review, issue 13, pp. 100-118. https://gaatw.org/ATR/AntiTraffickingReview_issue13.pdf (18 pages).

Trodd, Z. (2013). ‘Am I Still Not a Man and a Brother? Protest Memory in Contemporary Antislavery Visual Culture.’ Slavery & Abolition, 34:2, 338-352. (14 pages)

UN General Assembly (2000). Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=XVIII-12- a&chapter=18&lang=en (11 pages).

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2021). The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Trafficking in Persons and the responses and challenges. https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2021/July/covid-19-and-crime_-the-impact-of-the-pandemic-on-human-trafficking.html (90 pages).

Recommended Reading

Barner, H., Okeh, D.; Camp, M. (2014). ‘Socio-Economy, Inequality, and the Global Slave Trade.’ Societies 4:2, 148-160. (12 pp.)

Cadet, Jean – Robert (1998). Restavec – from Haitian Slave Child to Middle-Class American. University of Texas Press.

Hardina, Donna (2014). ‘Deferred Action, Immigration, and Social Work: What should Social Workers Know?’ Journal of Policy Practice 13:1, 30-44. (14 pp.)

Honeyman, Katherine L., Arthur A. Stukas, Mathew D. Marques (2016). ‘Human trafficking: factors that influence willingness to combat the issue’, Journal of Applied Social Psychology 46, pp. 529–543. (14 pp.)

Kara, Siddharth (2012). Bonded Labor: Tackling the System of Slavery in South Asia. Columbia University Press.

LeBaron, G. (2021) ‘The Role of Supply Chains in the Global Business of Forced Labour.’ Journal of Supply Chain Management.

Mapp, S.C. (2014). Human Rights and Social Justice in a Global Perspective: An Introduction to International Social Work. New York: Oxford University Press. S. 1-120, 153 -220. (187 pp.)

McCracken, Vic (2014). Christian Faith and Social Justice: Five Views. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

O’Brien, Erin (2019). Challenging the Human Trafficking Narrative Victims, Villains, and Heroes. Routledge.

Pascual-Leone, Antonio, Jean Kim, Orrin-Porter Morrison (2016). ‘Working with Victims of Human Trafficking,’ Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy 47, pp. 51–59. (8 sider)

Quirk, Joel (2011). The Anti-Slavery Project – from the slave trade to human trafficking. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Reid, Joan A. (2016). ‘Entrapment and Enmeshment Schemes Used by Sex Traffickers’, Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 28(6) pp. 491–511. (20 sider)

Sandel, M. J. (2010). Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Zimmerman, Cathy, Mazeda Hossain, Charlotte Watts (2011). ‘Human trafficking and health: A conceptual model to inform policy, intervention and research.’ Social Science & Medicine, 73, s. 327-335.