States and the Political Economy of Unfree Labour

LeBaron, Genevieve; Phillips, Nicola

doi:10.1080/13563467.2017.1420642

Cited by 62 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(34 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Forced labour, human trafficking, modern slavery, debt-migration, and other manifestations of unfree labour are endemic in global supply chains and the lowest tiers of services and manufacturing in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, construction, fisheries, and plantations (Guérin 2013, LeBaron & Phillips 2019. We compare the manifestations of unfree labour in migration for low-skilled work in Myanmar and Ghana and examine the role of brokers, the migrants themselves, and the state in creating and perpetuating it.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Victims of trafficking and modern slavery or agents of change? Migrants, brokers, and the state in Ghana and Myanmar

Deshingkar¹,

Awumbila²,

Teye³

2019

JBA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The authors provide critical insights into the creation of unfree labour in Ghana and Myanmar by examining the roles of brokers, the state, and employers in positioning migrants in exploitative work in Libya, the Middle East, Singapore, and Thailand. The analysis draws on in-depth interviews with migrant construction workers and domestic workers, formal and informal brokers, transport providers, and other stakeholders. The authors show that brokerage is embedded in systems of reciprocity and closely depends on the co-optation of state actors. The research suggests that, rather than viewing migrants and those who mediate migration in opposition and the state as a benevolent facilitator, they should be analysed as co-constituting human trafficking, debt-bondage, and forced labour. It highlights the need for states to take greater responsibility for their own involvement in creating modern slavery. At the same time, the findings highlight the ways in which migrants use brokerage to exercise agency by taking advantage of irregular migration routes and informal employment.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Victims of trafficking and modern slavery or agents of change? Migrants, brokers, and the state in Ghana and Myanmar

Deshingkar¹,

Awumbila²,

Teye³

2019

JBA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Further, while unfree labour (in the context of modern slavery) is often viewed from the perspective of the individual worker (Paz‐Fuchs, ), access to collective representation has been recognized as potentially constitutive of individual freedom (Bogg, ). Unfree labour tends to be ‘concentrated in sectors and workplaces with no or very low levels of union activity’, since the lack of collective voice to challenge working conditions has a ‘porous’ effect exacerbating vulnerability (LeBaron and Phillips, , p. 12).…”

Section: Transnational Uncertainty In Posting and Unfree Labour Relatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reform of the Posting of Workers Regime – An Assessment of the Practical Impact on Unfree Labour Relations

Novitz

Andrijasevic

2020

J of Common Market Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The 2018 Amending Directive is the most recent response to the failings of the European Union (EU) legal framework for the posting of workers. This article uses an original case study of workers posted from Serbia via Hungary to Slovakia as a basis on which to assess the practical impact of this latest Directive. We recognize the capacity for EU Member States to do more to protect posted workers than was possible previously. However, we also note significant regulatory omissions relating, in particular, to the manufactured uncertainty of employment and immigration status, limited supply chain regulation and obstacles to trade union representation. We identify the need to address in greater detail the complex operations of transnational temporary work agencies involving third country nationals which can produce legal uncertainty and foster unfree labour relations.

show abstract

“…The second state driver of migrant labour exploitation lies in the rise of ‘managed migration’ regimes embodying the centrality of ‘national security’ concerns about terrorism, organised crime and responses to migratory flows (Walters, 2004; Amoore, 2006; Guild, 2009). Immigration policy has promoted an increasingly securitised, bio-political form of ‘carceral cosmopolitanism’ (Sparke, 2006) in which migration and migrants themselves are ever more closely controlled and monitored (Anderson, 2013; LeBaron and Phillips, 2019). Faced with constrained migration channels and hard borders, many migrants including people seeking asylum are forced to seek out illegal routes of entry, often relying on ‘professional smugglers’ (Andreas, 2004; Bloch et al, 2011) which can embroil them in a lengthy relationship of indebtedness and vulnerability to exploitation (O’Connell Davidson, 2013).…”

Section: Working In a Hostile Environment: State Structuring Of Migramentioning

confidence: 99%

Fighting or fuelling forced labour? The Modern Slavery Act 2015, irregular migrants and the vulnerabilising role of the UK’s hostile environment

Hodkinson

Lewis

Waite

et al. 2020

Critical Social Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abolishing ‘modern slavery’ has now achieved international policy consensus. The most recent UK initiative – the 2015 Modern Slavery Act (MSA) – includes amongst other aspects tougher prison sentencing for perpetrators and the creation of an independent anti-slavery commissioner to oversee its implementation. However, drawing on research into forced labour among people seeking asylum in England, this article argues that when considered alongside the UK government’s deliberate creation of a ‘hostile environment’ towards migrants, not least in the Immigration Acts of 2014 and 2016, state action to outlaw modern slavery is flawed, counter-productive and disingenuous. We show how the MSA focuses only on the immediate act of coercion between ‘victim’ and ‘criminal’, ignoring how the hostile state vulnerabilises migrants in ways that compel their entry into and continued entrapment within severe labour exploitation.

show abstract

States and the Political Economy of Unfree Labour

Cited by 62 publications

References 43 publications

Victims of trafficking and modern slavery or agents of change? Migrants, brokers, and the state in Ghana and Myanmar

Victims of trafficking and modern slavery or agents of change? Migrants, brokers, and the state in Ghana and Myanmar

Reform of the Posting of Workers Regime – An Assessment of the Practical Impact on Unfree Labour Relations

Fighting or fuelling forced labour? The Modern Slavery Act 2015, irregular migrants and the vulnerabilising role of the UK’s hostile environment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About