Full Description
Slavery is not a crime confined to the far reaches of history. It is an injustice that continues to entrap twenty-seven million people across the globe. Laura Murphy offers close to forty survivor narratives from Cambodia, Ghana, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, and the United States, detailing the horrors of a system that forces people to work without pay and against their will, under the threat of violence, with little or no means of escape. Representing a variety of circumstances in diverse contexts, these survivors are the Frederick Douglasses, Sojourner Truths, and Olaudah Equianos of our time, testifying to the widespread existence of a human rights tragedy and the urgent need to address it. Through storytelling and firsthand testimony, this anthology shapes a twenty-first-century narrative that many believe died with the end of slavery in the Americas. Organized around such issues as the need for work, the punishment of defiance, and the move toward activism, the collection isolates the causes, mechanisms, and responses to slavery that allow the phenomenon to endure.
Enhancing scholarship in women's studies, sociology, criminology, law, social work, and literary studies, the text establishes a common trajectory of vulnerability, enslavement, captivity, escape, and recovery, creating an invaluable resource for activists, scholars, legislators, and service providers.
Contents
Foreword by Kevin Bales and Minh Dang Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Allure of Work 2. Slaves in the Family 3. Case Study: Interviews from a Brothel 4. Painful Defiance and Contested Freedom 5. Community Response and Resistance 6. Case Study: Mining Unity 7. The Voice and the Silence of Slavery 8. Becoming an Activist 9. Case Study: Coalition Against Slavery and Trafficking, Survivor Advisory Caucus Epilogue: Twenty-First-Century Abolitionists-What You Can Do to End Slavery Appendix A: Antislavery Organizations Appendix B: Signs of Enslavement Appendix C: Suggestions for Further Reading and Viewing Notes Index
