Consuming Worker Exploitation? Accounts and Justifications for Consumer (In)action to Modern Slavery

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2374428
AutoresMichal Carrington (0000-0001-7495-6206, The University of Melbourne, autor de correspondencia), Andreas Chatzidakis (0000-0002-3151-881X, Royal Holloway University of London), Deirdre Shaw (0000-0002-7492-6290, University of Glasgow)
Año2021
Volumen35
Número3
Páginas432-450
Fecha de publicación2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaWork Employment and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0950017020926372
OpenAlexW3042004205
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas44

While research has examined the plight of vulnerable workers, the role of consumers who drive demand for slave-based services and products has been largely neglected. This is an important gap given both historical evidence of the effectiveness of 18th and 19th century anti-slavery consumer activism and recent attempts to regulate slavery through harnessing consumer power, such as the UK's Modern Slavery Act 2015. This article draws on data from in-depth interviews with 40 consumers, to identify their understanding of modern slavery, before revealing the neutralising and legitimising techniques they use to justify their (in)action. Our findings contribute to, and extend, neutralisation theory by exploring its applicability in this unique context. We also position techniques of legitimisation as central to understanding how modern slavery is tolerated through a variety of discursive and institutional factors

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