Shoba Arun
(Manchester Metropolitan University)
Wendy Olsen
(University of Manchester)
Send message to Convenors
Chair:
Mariam Seedat Khan
(University of KwaZulu Natal)
Formats:
Papers
Stream:
Global inequalities
Sessions:
Wednesday 30 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Modern slavery and exploitative work regimes in the Global South and the North and work: multiple and differential intersections I.
Panel P24a at conference DSA2021: Unsettling Development.
This panel explores forms of modern slavery practices in the Global North and South. We ask if initiatives such as the Bangladesh Accord on safety at work has made a difference to workers in global supply chains. How do such initiatives reflect on solidarity and work conditions in the Global North?
Long Abstract:
In recent years, debates on exploitative work regimes have gained much attention globally. Yet we need more evidence on the intersection of society and slavery, first to understand measurement of modern forms of slavery in work contexts, either in a range of sectors, and its differential impact on groups of people. Whilst, slavery today most often occurs in industries that are labour intensive, low skilled, and under-regulated, this more often is also grounded in intersecting inequalities such as gender, migration, poverty and age. Furthermore, we are keen to improve our understanding of persisting forms of bonded labour, the social-stratification and poverty contexts, the associated risk of vulnerability due to human trafficking of young victims, and the demand for cheap and precarious labour in economic sectors such as garments, construction, and carpets.
Specifically we look at inequality among types of working people, both in the Global North and the South, using intersectional definitions. We examine the definitions of modern slavery that can be used in specifying how work regimes differ by gender, social class and by ethnic or cultural divisions. Specific issues that papers may take up are:
• Forms of work and exploitative work practices in different economic sectors
• Bonded labour and social inequality
• Case studies and qualitative approaches to sector wide examples in the North and the South.
• Gender and time-use in the industries where forms of abuse are common.
• Policy changes and impact on work (inviting practitioner inputs)
Publication Plans: The panel submissions will lead to a proposal for a journal special issue.
Based on case studies, this paper explores the continuum of exploitation, precarity and agency experienced by migrant women workers from Bangladesh and Nepal, the experience of which is complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paper long abstract:
There is considerable debate around women's migration and empowerment. Migration for care work inhabits in a continuum of exploitation, precarity and agency, and within that levels of empowerment. The COVID-19 global pandemic has created profound challenges and changes to migrant women workers' experiences. Using case studies from key informant interviews of NGO advocacy and support groups and the International Labor Organisation, this paper explores the complex issue of changes in women's agency and empowerment from the migration experience, as well as the informal networks of friends, employers, colleagues and families which serve as paradoxical sites of empowerment and exploitation. A central theme of the paper is that empowerment and disempowerment are fluid, and gender relations for migrant women in the workplace 'home', as much as in their origin home, are a complex set of negotiations and re-negotiations, which can be easily disrupted by global and local events. In most cases, the migration 'events' are local or regionally based, so that alternative solutions can be readily available. However, COVID-19 is a global event and it has affected both the home country as well as the destination. In conclusion, this paper provides findings and recommendations based on service providers' insights as to where policies fail, and how they can be changed to better address the precarity of migrant women's experiences.
This paper ascertains whether young internal migrants are prone to poverty, livelihood insecurity and become victims of exploitative employment compared to non-migrant youth population in Ghana. The paper highlights an emerging livelihood inequality, influenced by ethnic identity and exploitation.
Paper long abstract:
This paper ascertains whether young internal migrants are prone to poverty, livelihood insecurity and become victims of exploitative employment when compared to the non-migrant youth population in Ghana. The paper examines whether poverty and other socio-economic indicators, mediate the association between migration, livelihood security, vulnerability, and exploitation, and crime. We use the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS) 6 (2012) and 7 (2017), with a sample size of 15,000 households. This analysis focuses on youth in four (Greater Accra, Western, Brong Ahafo, and Ashanti Regions) of the current ten administrative regions in Ghana which record the highest number of internal migrants. The study defines youth as individuals between the ages of 15 and 34 years. Birth region and current region of residence are used together as a proxy for migration. This study employs qualitative methodologies and mediation analysis to assess the determinants of livelihood, poverty, exploitation, and victimisation. The paper also highlights an emerging livelihood inequality, which is influenced by the ethnic and spatial identity of young internal migrants and prone exploitation in the context of employment and crime. To address this spatial discrepancy, we recommend geographical targeting of poverty reduction initiatives, soft skills education, and the introduction of humanitarian and employment centres.
Drawing on value trap slavery (Crane, 2013) framework, the paper demonstrates the gap between UK corporations' disclosures in modern slavery statements, and continued slavery-like work practices in the readymade garment sector of Bangladesh.
Paper long abstract:
Using data from primary research into the readymade garment sector in Bangladesh, this paper draws on the notion of "value-trap slavery" (Crane, 2013) to understand the perpetuation of modern slavery. It seeks to demonstrate the gap between UK corporations' disclosures in modern slavery statements, and continued slavery-like work practices in global supply chains. At the same time, it has shed light on the perpetuation of modern slavery in supply chains, and reflects on the implications of policies to alleviate slavery conditions. Workers, at all levels, continue to be subjected to exploitation, not only departing from the code of compliance but also violating human rights and laws in the settings in which they operate. The supply chain is trapped in a vicious cycle of meeting buyers' demands for shorter lead times and strict delivery standards, accompanied by compliance pressures. All these have brought an acute dimension to factories' approaches to cost recovery. It has been shown that cost recovery is achieved by squeezing wages and restricting other labour rights, through forced overtime, unrealistic production targets, temporary contracts, flexible working and intensive labour processes, which increase the inevitability of modern slavery, in some instances driving it underground. This paper aims to give visibility to inherent tensions between supply chains and their global partners even in the post-Bangladesh Accord situation.
Time-use diary data offer a chance to validate and cross-verify child labour quantum estimates within industries in states and regions of India. We provide gender-sensitive age-year estimates, defining 'child labour' as work that is harmful, excessive, or hazardous, using a new national dataset.
Paper long abstract:
The child-labour concept is used to pinpoint attention on hot-spots of exploitation in the realm of employment. In India, 5.8% of children age 6 to 14 were working excessive hours in 2019 (2.5% if we omit unpaid domestic work; the threshold is 38 hours/week). These figures reach 27.5% and 13.5% among children of the same ages who do not attend schools. Such children are harmed when missing formal schooling opportunities, based on ILO definitions. UNICEF, too, is sensitive to the domestic work burden. New national Indian time-use diary data can support child-labour quantum estimates in each state and region of India. The gender-divided age-year estimates rise rapidly in the age range 12 to 17. Based on defining 'child labour' as work that is harmful, excessive, or hazardous, we offer estimates that are sensitive to the risk of measurement error in the time-use diary data.
Measurement error can arise from having 30-minute slot reports of activities, with three activities per slot. We test whether child-labour % within age group varies significantly on the number of tasks recorded in a slot, and explain why. We also test for the impact upon overall hot-spot definitions if we take a conservative, a medium, or a literal view of the 1-2-or-3 tasks in each 30 minute slot. The specific impact of the literal view is that tasks are considered simultaneous, while the conservative view is that they are sequenced. We draw out policy conclusions based on our gender-and-development theoretical standpoint.
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