Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:23:15.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Undermining Labor Power

The False Promise of the Industry-led Antislavery Initiatives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2021

Genevieve LeBaron
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield
Jessica R. Pliley
Affiliation:
Texas State University, San Marcos
David W. Blight
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Get access

Summary

The past few decades have seen a sharp and persistent rise in market-based solutions to address contemporary social concerns. Recent corporate social responsibility initiatives have displayed a growing interest in efforts to combat “modern day slavery,” a social and legal category that has emerged since the introduction of global human trafficking protocols. Corporations have responded to an increased demand for ethical business practices by adopting commitments and programs that signal their dedication to improving labor rights conditions for the people who are sewing their clothes, picking their cocoa, or cleaning their hotel rooms. Building on existing research and case studies, this chapter seeks to elaborate on ways in which initiatives that purport to protect workers’ rights – which have increasingly embraced "anti-slavery" as a focal point – actively disempower the very people they seek to protect. It additionally asks how the public lauding of corporate social responsibility’s anti-slavery efforts whitewashes brand images and actually displaces efforts to enforce labor standards across supply chains. Finally, it offers an alternative approach to corporate driven supply chain management, advocating instead, an approach to reducing labor abuse in global supply chains centered in collective worker action and international labor standards.

Type
Chapter
Information
Fighting Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
History and Contemporary Policy
, pp. 141 - 155
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×