The Truth About Modern Slavery, by Emily Kenway

Author: Emily Kenway. Review by Matthew Barrow

In this lucid book, Emily Kenway argues that the idea of ‘modern slavery’, as framed by some politicians and campaigners, is a misleading concept. It not only misrepresents the nature of the problem, she says, but actively acts against the kinds of policies and practices that would actually help with the realities of exploitation.

Kenway does not deny that severe exploitation, and even slavery, exists, and that it should be confronted. This is a compassionate book that wants us to look for real answers to this problem. Her objection is to a certain way of thinking about extreme exploitation, and the way that thinking shapes public attitudes and government policies. Modern slavery is often treated as an aberration performed by criminals, in an otherwise benign economic system. This can be tackled, one hears, by law-and-order measures, by immigration controls, and by specially-targeted business practices. This treatment of modern slavery, as a solely-criminal activity, and the separation of it from how our economy and society work more generally, is what Kenway objects to. She argues that there is actually a continuum of exploitation. By taking the most extreme examples of abuse and imprisonment, labelling them ‘modern slavery’, and campaigning specifically against those criminal activities, we ignore that continuum and also ignore the ways in which our economic and social policies contribute to the problem.

In short, Kenway argues that people are exploited when they are vulnerable and lack options. The larger issue is: why are people this vulnerable; why do they so severely lack options? There are many answers to this. Kenway refers to: punitive immigration rules and the ‘hostile environment’; a lack of workers’ rights and protections; and imbalances in power between major retailers and their suppliers. She argues that rather than (or as well as) pursuing things like company audits of supply chains (broadly ineffective and unenforced), ethical consumerism (which places an unrealistic burden on individual shoppers), or stricter immigration enforcement (which can force people into vulnerable situations), we should instead focus on more profound changes. These include unionisation, more safe immigration pathways, and economic policies like universal basic income (which she offers as an example, not a prescription). Approaches like these, she suggests, will protect people from the circumstances that leave them vulnerable to exploitation.

I didn’t know much about modern slavery before reading this book, and shared the common perception of trafficked victims, criminal gangs, and people being rescued from imprisonment. Kenway confirms that all of these things are real, and her own background is as an activist in this area. But she argues that they are part of a larger and more complex picture than the one we get from mainstream news or from politicians, and that they need larger solutions. Friends concerned about these issues will be interested in these insights and perspectives.

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