Over the last two decades, fighting modern slavery and human trafficking has become a cause célèbre. Yet large numbers of researchers, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, workers, and others who would seem like natural allies in the fight against modern slavery and trafficking are hugely skeptical of these movements. They object to how the problems are framed, and are skeptical of the “new abolitionist” movement. Why? This book tackles key controversies surrounding the anti-slavery and anti-trafficking movements head on. Champions and skeptics explore the fissures and fault lines that surround efforts to fight modern slavery and human trafficking today. These include: whether efforts to fight modern slavery displace or crowd out support for labor and migrant rights; whether and to what extent efforts to fight modern slavery mask, naturalize, and distract from racial, gendered, and economic inequality; and whether contemporary anti-slavery and anti-trafficking crusaders' use of history are accurate and appropriate.

'In bringing diverse historical and social science perspectives to the fraught conversation over 'modern slavery' and human trafficking, LeBaron, Pliley, and Blight demonstrate that research matters: whether in defining terms, estimating numbers, finding a usable past, or offering solutions to varieties of forced labor. Questioning the efficacy of neo-abolitionism and corporate social responsibility, key essays highlight the necessity for worker voices, worker-led enforcement, and confronting global inequalities.' Eileen Boris, author of Making the Woman Worker: Precarious Labor and the Fight for Global Standards, 1919–2019
'What inspiration can we take from the past, and what does require innovative thinking in the fight against modern slavery? By problematizing concepts such as neo-abolitionism, and analyzing existing controversies, this book is critical to understanding what should be never taken for granted in the struggle against slavery and human trafficking.' Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, Former UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children
'This is a book for anyone daring to understand the complex story of slavery, historically and contemporarily. Whether we call the present condition modern slavery or human exploitation, the authors remind us that it is in our power to make slavery disappear. Read this book, but do not ignore it. Too much is at stake.' Earl Lewis, Thomas C. Holt Distinguished University Professor of History, University of Michigan

Genevieve LeBaron is Professor of Politics at the University of Sheffield and an award-winning expert on the contemporary business of forced labor. She is the author of Combatting Modern Slavery: Why Labour Governance is Failing and How We Can Fix It (2020), among other books and articles. She was elected to the College of the Royal Society of Canada in 2020. Jessica R. Pliley is an Associate Professor of Women's and Gender History at Texas State University. She is an editor of Global Anti-Vice Activism and the author of Policing Sexuality: The Mann Act and the Making of the FBI (2014). Her work has appeared in the Journal of Women's History, the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, and the Journal of the History of Sexuality. David Blight is Sterling Professor of American History at Yale University. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize- winning Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (2018), among other books, book chapters, and articles. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012.