Abstract
Dominant anti-trafficking policy discourses represent trafficking as an issue of crime, “illegal” migration, victimhood and humanitarianism. Such a narrow focus is not an adequate response to the interplay between technology, trafficking and anti-trafficking. This article explores different levels of analysis and the interplay between human trafficking and technology. We argue for a shift from policy discourses with a very limited focus on crime and victimisation to more systemic understandings of trafficking and more robust micro-analyses of trafficking and everyday life. The article calls for an agnotological understanding of policy responses to trafficking and technology: these depend upon the production of ignorance. We critique limitations in policy understandings of trafficking-related aspects of online spaces, and argue for better engagement with online networks. We conclude that there is a need to move beyond a focus on “new” technology and exceptionalist claims about “modern slavery” towards greater attention to everyday exploitation within neoliberalism.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 665-684 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Antipode |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 6 Jan 2016 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2016 |
Keywords
- agnotology
- ignorance
- Internet
- Networks
- Neoliberalism
- Technology
- trafficking of human beings
Access to Document
- Author accepted mansucript
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Mendel, J., and Sharapov, K. (2016) Human Trafficking and Online Networks: Policy, Analysis, and Ignorance. Antipode, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/anti.12213. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
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Mendel, Jonathan
- Energy Environment and Society - Senior Lecturer (Teaching and Research)
Person: Academic