Trafficking Chains: Modern Slavery in Society

Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND license. This book offers a theory of trafficking and modern slavery with implications for policy. Despite economic development, modern slavery persists all around the world. The issue is not only one of crime but the regulation of the economy, better welfare, and social protections. Going beyond polarized debates on the sex trade, an original empirical analysis shows the importance of profit-taking. Although individual experience matters, the root causes lie in intersecting regimes of inequality of gender regimes, capitalism, and the legacies of colonialism. This book shows the importance of coercion and the societal complexities that perpetuate modern slavery.

Sylvia Walby OBE is Professor of Criminology at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is Fellow of the British Academy, Fellow the UK Academy of Arts and Social Sciences, and Co-Coordinator of International Sociological Association’s TG11 on Violence and Society. Karen Shire is Professor of Comparative Sociology at the University Duisburg-Essen, Germany. She is a Member of the International Max-Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy, and Vice-President of International Sociological Association RC02 Economy and Society.