Combatting Modern Slavery: Why Labour Governance is Failing and What We Can Do About ItOver the last decade, the world’s largest corporations – from The Coca Cola Company to Amazon, Apple to Unilever – have taken up the cause of combatting modern slavery. Yet, by most measures, across many sectors and regions, severe labour exploitation continues to soar. Corporate social responsibility is not working. Why? In this landmark book, Genevieve LeBaron lifts the lid on a labour governance regime that is severely flawed and limited. She takes a close-up look at the millions of corporate dollars spent on anti-slavery networks, NGO partnerships, lobbying for new transparency legislation, and investment in social auditing and ethical certification schemes, to show how such efforts serve to bolster corporate growth and legitimacy as well as government reputations, whilst failing to protect the world’s most vulnerable workers. To eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking in global supply chains a new approach is needed; one that confronts corporate power and profits, dismantles exploitative business models, and regulates the booming private industry of accounting firms, social auditors, and consultants that has emerged to ‘monitor’ and ‘enforce’ labour standards. Only worker-driven initiatives that uphold fundamental rights can protect workers in the contemporary global economy and make forced labour a thing of the past. |
Contents
Labour Exploitation in Global Supply Chains | |
The Recruitment Industry | |
Protecting TwentyFirstCentury Workers | |
Other editions - View all
Combatting Modern Slavery: Why Labour Governance is Failing and What We Can ... Genevieve LeBaron No preview available - 2020 |
Combatting Modern Slavery: Why Labour Governance is Failing and What We Can ... Genevieve LeBaron No preview available - 2020 |
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Andrew Crane audit firms auditors brands business demand business models Business of Forced Chapter civil society Coca-Cola Company combat modern slavery companies create debt bondage demand for forced dynamics employers enforcement industry eradicating forced labour ethical certification schemes ethical recruitment initiatives factory Fairtrade garment Genevieve LeBaron Global Business global economy global supply chains home state regulation human rights human trafficking industry actors industry-led instance intermediaries International Labour Organization Interview labour abuse labour and human labour exploitation labour governance initiatives labour market labour standards labour supply chains laws liability living wages migrant workers MNCs Models and Supply Modern Slavery Act monitoring NGOs organizations outsourcing problems production profits Rainforest Alliance Rana Plaza recruitment industry regulation retailers sectors shareholders social auditing suppliers Tesco transparency UN Global Compact unfree labour Unilever unions vulnerable to forced vulnerable workers Walmart workforce workplace