Tag Archives for forced labour
The Endemic Problem of Forced Labour in Global Tea and Cocoa Supply Chains
What do tea and cocoa have in common? Both products are widely consumed by households around the world; the early world market for both industries was intertwined with the history of colonialism; and in today’s global economy, both products are made with forced labour. Over the past two years, I’ve led The Global Business of Forced Labour research project, funded by the … Continue reading
Unions in the 21st century: adapt to survive, co-opt to grow
Could a clever campaign make support for unions an integral part of corporate social responsibility? It has always surprised me how rarely trade unions are raised in the conversation on forced labour. Their fundamental purpose is to secure better conditions for workers, in part by using collective action to identify and rectify the structural and systemic problems occurring within their … Continue reading
Understanding vulnerability to forced labour in global supply chains
Forced labour is prevalent in the tea and cocoa industries and is happening in the context of widespread labour abuse In my remarks at an ETI Ethical Insights discussion on what drives modern slavery in global supply chains, I outlined findings from my Global Business of Forced Labour project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The project systematically mapped the business … Continue reading
The political economy of forced labour
‘Confronting Root Causes: Forced Labour in Global Supply Chains’, a new report that call for innovative approaches to tackle forced labour in global supply chains is published today. The first chapter of the report is republished here. It is by now widely recognised that effectively tackling forced labour in the global economy means addressing its ‘root causes’. Policymakers, business leaders … Continue reading
Overseas anti-slavery initiatives flourish, but domestic governance gaps persist
UK-based companies are ramping up efforts to combat slavery in their overseas supply chains. But companies also need to be working harder to address the severe labour exploitation taking place at home. The passage of the UK 2015 Modern Slavery Act has prompted companies to be more open about their efforts to combat forced labour in global supply chains. To … Continue reading
Mandatory transparency, discretionary disclosure
New transparency regulations in some places theoretically require companies to report on forced labour in their supply chains, but a new review finds that’s not what’s happening The challenge of governing labour standards globally has never been greater. Incidents such as Apple’s detection of ‘bonded servitude’ at its major subsidiary factories in China; the discovery of slave labour in the Thai prawn industry, … Continue reading
Rethinking Recovery: Poverty chains and global capitalism
Reorienting value generated within ‘global poverty chains’ is essential to improve the lives of an impoverished world labour force Contemporary global capitalism is characterised by extreme wealth concentration and a rapidly expanding and largely impoverished global labour force. Mainstream institutions such as the World Bank and International Labour Organisation encourage integration into global value chains as a development strategy that, … Continue reading
SPERI-WOERRC workshop: real recovery will require decent work
Academics and labour market experts from across the UK met in Sheffield on May 26-27, 2016 for a workshop hosted by SPERI and WOERRC (Work Organisation and Employment Relations Research Centre) and funded by the ESRC. The papers presented uncovered the impacts of the austerity-based recovery model on the domestic labour market, as well as on labour conditions in global supply … Continue reading
Call for Papers: Conceptualizing Labour ‘Unfreedom’ and Degradation Along the Supply Chain
WOERRC SPERI Workshop at the University of Sheffield, May 26-27, 2016 Since the economic crisis of 2008-2009, labour unfreedom has intensified at the bottom end of the labour market. Working conditions, remuneration, and collective bargaining rights have stagnated or declined for large-swathes of the low-waged workforce. At the same time, evidence from several sectors suggests that the practices commonly … Continue reading
Inaugural Professorial Lecture by Nicola Phillips
Last night, Professor Nicola Phillips, SPERI Associate Fellow and Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Politics, delivered her inaugural professorial lecture at the University of Sheffield. In a wide-ranging and powerfully argued lecture, which was entitled ‘Forced Labour and Human Trafficking in the Global Economy’, Nicola set out and explained the complex array of interlocking symmetries of market … Continue reading
Inequality Redux III
Fighting slavery, flaming labour exploitation? Growing wealth and power inequalities between classes, and between business and workers, is fuelling labour exploitation. And the UK’s Modern Slavery Bill – set to become law in March 2015 – will do little to stop it. Forced labour is not an isolated issue separable from labour exploitation more generally. Both are driven by inequality … Continue reading
Time to get serious about forced labour in supply chains
We now know that our shopping carts are full of forced labour. So why are governments and industry doing so little to stop it? In June 2014, The Guardian ran a headline news story revealing the widespread use of conditions it described as modern slavery, human trafficking, and forced labour by employers in the Thai prawn industry. It traced the … Continue reading
Ethical Certification Doesn’t Eradicate Forced Labour
In the tea industry, on almost every indicator we used to measure labour standards, certified plantations fared about the same, if not worse, as non-certified plantations. Buying ethically certified products makes us feel better about the things we buy, but what evidence do we have that these programs actually work? Staring at tea boxes lining the grocery store shelf one … Continue reading →
21 October 2018 by Genevieve LeBaron
Categories: SPERI Comment | Tags: forced labour, Genevieve LeBaron, The Global Business of Forced Labour | Leave a comment