Table of Contents

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.

Promotional Information

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

About the Author

Genevieve LeBaron is Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield and an award-winning expert on the contemporary business of forced labor. She is the author of Combatting Modern Slavery: Why Labour Governance is Failing and How We Can Fix It (2020), among other books and articles. She was elected to the College of the Royal Society of Canada in 2020. Jessica R. Pliley is an Associate Professor of Women's and Gender History at Texas State University. She is an editor of Global Anti-Vice Activism and the author of Policing Sexuality: The Mann Act and the Making of the FBI (2014). Her work has appeared in the Journal of Women's History, the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and the Journal of the History of Sexuality. David Blight is Sterling Professor of American History at Yale University. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize- winning Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (2018), among other books, book chapters, and articles. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012.

Reviews

'In bringing diverse historical and social science perspectives to the fraught conversation over 'modern slavery' and human trafficking, LeBaron, Pliley, and Blight demonstrate that research matters: whether in defining terms, estimating numbers, finding a usable past, or offering solutions to varieties of forced labor. Questioning the efficacy of neo-abolitionism and corporate social responsibility, key essays highlight the necessity for worker voices, worker-led enforcement, and confronting global inequalities.' Eileen Boris, author of Making the Woman Worker: Precarious Labor and the Fight for Global Standards, 1919–2019

'What inspiration can we take from the past, and what does require innovative thinking in the fight against modern slavery? By problematizing concepts such as neo-abolitionism, and analyzing existing controversies, this book is critical to understanding what should be never taken for granted in the struggle against slavery and human trafficking.' Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, Former UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children

'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