Modern slavery laws are a response to global capitalism, which undermines the distinction between free and unfree labour and poses intense challenges to state sovereignty. Instead of being a solution, Constructing Modern Slavery argues that modern slavery laws divert attention from the underlying structures and processes that generate exploitation. Focusing on unfree labour associated with international immigration and global supply chains, it provides a novel socio-legal genealogy of the concept 'modern slavery' through a series of linked case studies of influential actors associated with key legal instruments: the United Nations, the United States, the International Labour Organization, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Walk Free Foundation. Constructing Modern Slavery demonstrates that despite the best efforts of academics, advocates, and policymakers to develop a truly multifaceted approach to modern slavery, it is difficult to uncouple antislavery initiatives from the conservative moral and economic agendas with which they are aligned. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Constructing Modern Slavery argues that modern slavery laws divert attention from the underlying structures and processes that generate labour exploitation.

About the Author
Judy Fudge is the LIUNA Enrico Henry Mancinelli Chair of Global Labour Issues at McMaster University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She takes a socio-legal approach to studying work and labour and has published extensively on employment and labour law from a range of critical perspectives.


Book Information
ISBN 9781108473422
Author Judy Fudge
Format Hardback
Page Count 278
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press