Episode 36 - Slaves to Progress (Part 1 of 2)

Despite universal condemnation of slavery, there are more slaves than ever before. They are cheaper (and more disposable) than they ever have been. Who are these people toiling without rest and what forces bind them? Can economic expansion find innovative solutions to this age-old problem? Or is slavery itself built into the foundation of our modern economy?

We will explore these questions and more, as well as the connections between slavery and environmental destruction, migration, and the products we consume daily.

This is the first of a two part series.

full transcript

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Chapters

  • 03:19 Pirates
  • 07:42 Slaves by the Numbers
  • 12:04 Diversity of Products
  • 14:33 The "Third World" and the Environment
  • 21:03 Vicious Cycle
  • 23:10 Global Demand; Local Conflict
  • 24:33 Conflict Mineral Supply Chain
  • 28:55 Debt Path to Slavery
  • 33:28 Malaysia
  • 37:53 Vulnerability through Migration
  • 39:56 Seafood
  • 48:00 What are Rights?
  • 55:28 Benevolence of Jobs?
  • 57:49 Thinking in Aggregates

Sources

@misc{Aleem_2017, title={Apple buys a key iPhone component from brutal Congolese mines. It’s trying to stop.}, url={https://www.vox.com/world/2017/3/7/14828272/apple-congo-cobalt}, author={Aleem, Zeeshan}, year={2017}, month={Mar}}


@book{Bales2016, title={Blood and Earth: Modern Slavery, Ecocide, and the Secret to Saving the World}, ISBN={978-0-8129-9577-0}, url={http://christusliberat.org/journal/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Blood-and-Earth-Modern-Slavery-Ecocide-Kevin-Bales.pdf}, publisher={Spiegel & Grau}, author={Bales, Kevin}, year={2016}, month={Jan}}


@misc{Cole_2017, title={Slavery returns to Africa: Migrants sold at open markets in Libya}, url={https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/migrants-are-being-sold-open-slave-markets-libya-1616492}, author={Cole, Brendan}, year={2017}, month={Apr}}


@misc{Keller_1995, title={Shanghaied!}, url={https://www.americanheritage.com/content/shanghaied}, author={Keller, David Neal}, year={1995}, month={Sep}}


@misc{Guilford_2014, title={10 charts that explain why a slave may well have caught the shrimp on your grill this summer}, url={https://qz.com/219618/10-charts-that-explain-why-a-slave-probably-caught-the-shrimp-on-your-grill-this-summer/}, author={Guilford, Gwynn}, year={2014}, month={Jun}}


@misc{Kaushik_2018, title={Shanghaiing: How Trickery And Deception Turned Thousands of Unwilling Men Into Sailors}, url={https://www.amusingplanet.com/2018/04/shanghaiing-how-trickery-and-deception.html}, author={Kaushik}, year={2018}, month={Apr}}


@misc{Qayyum_2017, title={Girls Trapped in Cycle of Servitude at Pakistan’s Brick Kilns}, url={https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pakistan-girls-brick-kilns_us_588b74f2e4b0303c07534ac9}, author={Qayyum, Mahwish}, year={2017}, month={Jan}}


@misc{Martha Mendoza_Margie Mason_2017, title={Hawaii may be breaking law by allowing foreign men to fish}, url={http://www.ap.org/explore/seafood-from-slaves/hawaii-may-be-breaking-law-by-allowing-foreign-men-to-fish.html}, author={Mendoza, Martha and Mason, Margie}, year={2017}, month={Feb}}


@misc{NPR_2016, title={AP Report Exposes Slave-Like Conditions On Hawaii Fishing Fleets}, url={https://www.npr.org/2016/09/13/493801034/ap-report-exposes-slave-like-conditions-on-hawaii-fishing-fleets}, author={NPR}, year={2016}, month={Sep}}


@misc{Ramchandani_2018, title={Forced Labor Is the Backbone of the World’s Electronics Industry}, url={https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/06/malaysia-forced-labor-electronics/563873/}, author={Ramchandani, Ariel}, year={2018}, month={Jun}}


@misc{Raquel Villaecija_Alberto Rojas Blanco_2016, title={Blood and minerals: Who profits from conflict in DRC?}, url={https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/01/blood-minerals-profits-conflict-drc-160118124123342.html}, author={Raquel Villaecija and Alberto Rojas Blanco}, year={2016}, month={Jan}}


@misc{Reuters_2018, title={Asian factory workers face slavery risks with rise of automation in manufacturing: analysts}, url={https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/12/business/asian-factory-workers-face-slavery-risks-rise-automation-manufacturing-analysts/}, author={Reuters}, year={2018}, month={Jul}}


@misc{Rhode_2017, title={Study Finds There Are 40 Million Slaves in the World}, url={https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/09/study-finds-there-are-40-million-slaves-in-the-wor.html}, author={Rhode, Jason}, year={2017}, month={Sep}}


@misc{Urbina_2015, title={‘Sea Slaves’: The Human Misery That Feeds Pets and Livestock}, url={https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/world/outlaw-ocean-thailand-fishing-sea-slaves-pets.html}, author={Urbina, Ian}, year={2015}, month={Jul}}


@misc{Zhou_2018, title={The world’s richest countries are the top buyers of goods at risk of being made by slaves}, url={https://qz.com/1332137/products-the-us-buys-that-could-be-made-by-slaves-or-forced-labor/}, author={Zhou, Youyou}, year={2018}, month={Jul}}


@misc{DW_2016, title={Invisible Hands - Slavery in the 21st Century}, url={https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acwJsj7yEo4&app=desktop}, author={DW}, year={2016}, month={Nov}}


@misc{ILO_2017, title={40 million in modern slavery and 152 million in child labour around the world_2017}, url={http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_574717/lang--en/index.htm}, author={ILO}, year={2017}, month={Sep}}
Published 09-08-2018 03:00