The Business of Advocacy: Companies and NGOs in the Fight against “Modern Slavery”

As the contemporary movement against “modern slavery” has expanded from a focus on sex trafficking to issues of forced labor, child labor and labor trafficking, businesses have joined NGOs, IGOs and states in addressing these forms of labor exploitation. How are businesses positioned in the contemporary movement and with what implications for other organizational actors and for the efficacy of anti-slavery advocacy? In this talk, which draws from one main argument of a monograph in progress, I focus on the first part of that question, examining the role of businesses and NGOs in anti-slavery advocacy. Drawing from interviews with anti-slavery organizations in Western Europe and the United States and analyzing anti-slavery discourses in their documents and online texts, I find that businesses are increasingly framed as the new ‘heroes’ and leaders able to voluntarily solve issues of “modern slavery” while NGOs are positioned as consultants and partners having to navigate an increasingly pro-business paradigm. These findings speak to debates about culture and power in transnational movements and the corporatization of civil society.