Alex Balch
Biographic Data
| ID | 644845 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alex Balch |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alex |
| FAMILY NAME | Balch |
| SIGNATURE | BALCH A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Liverpool |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0371-4629 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 99 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Exploring Vulnerabilities
Using the Social Ecological Model (SEM), this study examined factors contributing to children’s vulnerability to trafficking in Sierra Leone. Understanding these factors is critical for designing effective, multi-level interventions. We analyzed qualitative data from a mixed-methods prevalence estimation study (2020–2021) conducted in trafficking hotspot regions. Data included in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with survivors, caregi…
From Engagement to Co-Production
Unveiling child trafficking
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) included the goal of combating child labor and human trafficking, but regional variations complicate efforts to address these problems. In Sierra Leone, the government has taken steps to address these issues, but challenges remain, particularly in relation to access to education, in rural areas, and for young girls. This article examines local stakeholder understandings of child trafficking, and the distin…
“This Pandemic Has Opened Another Box of War”
There is growing evidence of the significant impacts of COVID-19 and government responses for those who experience human trafficking and modern slavery (HTMS). There is less known about experiences of service-providers, effects on international partnerships, and the implications of funder responses. This article uses the prism of safeguarding to explore the challenges faced during the pandemic for service-providers in Kenya and Uganda, paying att…
Stakeholder perceptions of gaps and solutions in addressing child trafficking
Mind the Gap(s)? Evidence and UK Policymaking on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery
This article examines four critical gaps in the evidence-policy relationship on human trafficking and modern slavery (HTMS) in the UK: prioritization, epistemology, synchronization and trust. Drawing on multiple sources, the authors outline key features of the landscape around evidence and policy in the UK, identify ways to address gaps and bring together researchers, those directly affected, and policymakers. The findings point to a growing cons…
Whitehead et al. Response to “Misunderstandings of Multiple Systems Estimation
Response to Vincent et al.'s (2020) letter in this journal concerning our recent paper on multiple Sysytems EStimation
On the Unreliability of Multiple Systems Estimation for Estimating the Number of Potential Victims of Modern Slavery in the UK
Accurate records of victims of modern slavery identified by various agencies allow investigators to compare different jurisdictions, track fluctuations in prevalence over time and evaluate preventative interventions. As well as enumerating those victims known to agencies, it would be desirable to know how many are working undetected under conditions of modern slavery and thus deduce the total number involved. To estimate the number of undetected …
Norm destruction, norm resilience
Principles of refugee protection in Europe are said to have come under great pressure with the populist and nationalist backlash to the ‘migrant crisis’, often traced to illiberal regimes in post-communist countries. This paper tests these claims by comparatively analysing media coverage in the UK and Hungary, establishing the extent to which specific norms were challenged or upheld in April and September 2015. It develops a new methodology conne…
The Modern Slavery Agenda
The Modern Slavery Agenda
Modern slavery, in the form of labour exploitation, domestic servitude, sexual trafficking, child labour and cannabis farming, is still growing in the UK and industrialised countries, despite the introduction of laws to try to stem it. This hugely topical book is the first to assess the legislation critically, using evidence from across the field, and to offer strategies for improvement in policy and practice. The book argues that, contrary to it…
A deadly cocktail? The fusion of Europe and immigration in the UK press
This article asks how the EU is imagined and deployed in different justifications for national restrictions on the free movement of European citizens. It does this by analysing press coverage in the UK, where concerns about the issues of immigration and European integration contributed to a victory for ‘Brexit’ in the 2016 referendum. It develops a novel technique for analysing the political dimension of media debates offering a conceptual map to…
Immigration and the State
This book examines how and why liberalism and human rights have proven insufficient to protect immigrants. Contemporary immigration systems are characterized by increasing complexity and expanding enf
Ethics, Politics and Migration
Public debates on immigration have become the subject of much concern, particularly in the UK. This article applies an ethical lens to assess changes in public debates over intra-EU migration in six UK national newspapers during 2006 and 2013. It finds an almost complete dominance of communitarian justifications, mainly based on welfare chauvinism, but a notable increase in security-related arguments and a decrease in economic nationalist ideas. …
A Europe of Rights and Values? Public Debates on Sarkozy's Roma Affair in France, Bulgaria and Romania
This article analyses press coverage between July and October 2010 in three different European Union (EU) member states (France, Romania and Bulgaria) of the French government's expulsion of Roma in 2010. It asks what the international reaction to France's actions tells us about the way in which Europe is deployed in debates over discrimination, minority rights and freedom of movement in national media. The article finds evidence in national publ…
Opportunity from Crisis? Organisational Responses to Human Trafficking in the UK
This article analyses the effects on key organisations responsible for immigration control and law enforcement of the UK's signing in March 2007 and ratification in December 2008 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. It shows how opportunities for organisational change and innovation arose from the 2006 crisis in the UK immigration system and also looks at how narrative constructions of the issue of hu…
A system in chaos? Knowledge and sense-making on immigration policy in public debates
This article shows how press selection and presentation of knowledge and expertise relate to processes of sense-making over contemporary political dilemmas. It develops an approach that combines framing analysis with theoretical insights from the literature on narrative and complexity. It demonstrates the value of this approach through quantitative and qualitative analysis of media coverage of the UK government’s decision-making over access to th…
Managing Labour Migration in Europe
Economic Migration and the Politics of Hospitality in Spain
Immigration is a highly politicized issue in Europe, and yet the regulation of economic migration is often seen as a straightforward function of sectoral demands or organized interests in the policy process. This paper asks how ideas matter and how they play a role in policy change over labor migration. It develops a framework to show how ideas operate in the politics of immigration to provide a more coherent account of policy change. Drawing on …
Sending and receiving
Labour migration in the European Union (EU) has become a hot topic in public debates, particularly around the issue of European enlargement. The media are frequently criticized for stirring up debates around immigration but analysis has overlooked the underlying ethical justifications for migration controls. This article addresses this by developing an innovative approach that applies an ethical lens to media coverage of intra-EU migration. It sh…
Labour and Epistemic Communities
How do new ideas flow through networks to reframe policy questions, and what role is played by the growing world of think tanks and policy experts? This article takes the remarkable shift in UK labour migration policy since 2000 and demonstrates how policy was redesigned by networks of actors working between and within the worlds of think tanks and government, including the Prime Minister's Policy and Innovation Unit (PIU), the Treasury, the Home…
Europe and North Africa
Contemporary relations between Europe and North Africa are of interest to researchers from a number of different academic backgrounds. In particular, increasing interest in the external implication
Ethics, Politics and Migration
Public debates on immigration have become the subject of much concern, particularly in the UK. This article applies an ethical lens to assess changes in public debates over intra-EU migration in six UK national newspapers during 2006 and 2013. It finds an almost complete dominance of communitarian justifications, mainly based on welfare chauvinism, but a notable increase in security-related arguments and a decrease in economic nationalist ideas. …
Sending and receiving
Labour migration in the European Union (EU) has become a hot topic in public debates, particularly around the issue of European enlargement. The media are frequently criticized for stirring up debates around immigration but analysis has overlooked the underlying ethical justifications for migration controls. This article addresses this by developing an innovative approach that applies an ethical lens to media coverage of intra-EU migration. It sh…
A deadly cocktail? The fusion of Europe and immigration in the UK press
This article asks how the EU is imagined and deployed in different justifications for national restrictions on the free movement of European citizens. It does this by analysing press coverage in the UK, where concerns about the issues of immigration and European integration contributed to a victory for ‘Brexit’ in the 2016 referendum. It develops a novel technique for analysing the political dimension of media debates offering a conceptual map to…
Labour and Epistemic Communities
How do new ideas flow through networks to reframe policy questions, and what role is played by the growing world of think tanks and policy experts? This article takes the remarkable shift in UK labour migration policy since 2000 and demonstrates how policy was redesigned by networks of actors working between and within the worlds of think tanks and government, including the Prime Minister's Policy and Innovation Unit (PIU), the Treasury, the Home…
Norm destruction, norm resilience
Principles of refugee protection in Europe are said to have come under great pressure with the populist and nationalist backlash to the ‘migrant crisis’, often traced to illiberal regimes in post-communist countries. This paper tests these claims by comparatively analysing media coverage in the UK and Hungary, establishing the extent to which specific norms were challenged or upheld in April and September 2015. It develops a new methodology conne…
A system in chaos? Knowledge and sense-making on immigration policy in public debates
This article shows how press selection and presentation of knowledge and expertise relate to processes of sense-making over contemporary political dilemmas. It develops an approach that combines framing analysis with theoretical insights from the literature on narrative and complexity. It demonstrates the value of this approach through quantitative and qualitative analysis of media coverage of the UK government’s decision-making over access to th…
Opportunity from Crisis? Organisational Responses to Human Trafficking in the UK
This article analyses the effects on key organisations responsible for immigration control and law enforcement of the UK's signing in March 2007 and ratification in December 2008 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. It shows how opportunities for organisational change and innovation arose from the 2006 crisis in the UK immigration system and also looks at how narrative constructions of the issue of hu…
A Europe of Rights and Values? Public Debates on Sarkozy's Roma Affair in France, Bulgaria and Romania
This article analyses press coverage between July and October 2010 in three different European Union (EU) member states (France, Romania and Bulgaria) of the French government's expulsion of Roma in 2010. It asks what the international reaction to France's actions tells us about the way in which Europe is deployed in debates over discrimination, minority rights and freedom of movement in national media. The article finds evidence in national publ…
Stakeholder perceptions of gaps and solutions in addressing child trafficking
Mind the Gap(s)? Evidence and UK Policymaking on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery
This article examines four critical gaps in the evidence-policy relationship on human trafficking and modern slavery (HTMS) in the UK: prioritization, epistemology, synchronization and trust. Drawing on multiple sources, the authors outline key features of the landscape around evidence and policy in the UK, identify ways to address gaps and bring together researchers, those directly affected, and policymakers. The findings point to a growing cons…
Europe and North Africa
Contemporary relations between Europe and North Africa are of interest to researchers from a number of different academic backgrounds. In particular, increasing interest in the external implication
Labour and Epistemic Communities
How do new ideas flow through networks to reframe policy questions, and what role is played by the growing world of think tanks and policy experts? This article takes the remarkable shift in UK labour migration policy since 2000 and demonstrates how policy was redesigned by networks of actors working between and within the worlds of think tanks and government, including the Prime Minister's Policy and Innovation Unit (PIU), the Treasury, the Home…
Managing Labour Migration in Europe
Economic Migration and the Politics of Hospitality in Spain
Immigration is a highly politicized issue in Europe, and yet the regulation of economic migration is often seen as a straightforward function of sectoral demands or organized interests in the policy process. This paper asks how ideas matter and how they play a role in policy change over labor migration. It develops a framework to show how ideas operate in the politics of immigration to provide a more coherent account of policy change. Drawing on …
Sending and receiving
Labour migration in the European Union (EU) has become a hot topic in public debates, particularly around the issue of European enlargement. The media are frequently criticized for stirring up debates around immigration but analysis has overlooked the underlying ethical justifications for migration controls. This article addresses this by developing an innovative approach that applies an ethical lens to media coverage of intra-EU migration. It sh…
Opportunity from Crisis? Organisational Responses to Human Trafficking in the UK
This article analyses the effects on key organisations responsible for immigration control and law enforcement of the UK's signing in March 2007 and ratification in December 2008 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings. It shows how opportunities for organisational change and innovation arose from the 2006 crisis in the UK immigration system and also looks at how narrative constructions of the issue of hu…
A system in chaos? Knowledge and sense-making on immigration policy in public debates
This article shows how press selection and presentation of knowledge and expertise relate to processes of sense-making over contemporary political dilemmas. It develops an approach that combines framing analysis with theoretical insights from the literature on narrative and complexity. It demonstrates the value of this approach through quantitative and qualitative analysis of media coverage of the UK government’s decision-making over access to th…
A Europe of Rights and Values? Public Debates on Sarkozy's Roma Affair in France, Bulgaria and Romania
This article analyses press coverage between July and October 2010 in three different European Union (EU) member states (France, Romania and Bulgaria) of the French government's expulsion of Roma in 2010. It asks what the international reaction to France's actions tells us about the way in which Europe is deployed in debates over discrimination, minority rights and freedom of movement in national media. The article finds evidence in national publ…
Immigration and the State
This book examines how and why liberalism and human rights have proven insufficient to protect immigrants. Contemporary immigration systems are characterized by increasing complexity and expanding enf
Ethics, Politics and Migration
Public debates on immigration have become the subject of much concern, particularly in the UK. This article applies an ethical lens to assess changes in public debates over intra-EU migration in six UK national newspapers during 2006 and 2013. It finds an almost complete dominance of communitarian justifications, mainly based on welfare chauvinism, but a notable increase in security-related arguments and a decrease in economic nationalist ideas. …
A deadly cocktail? The fusion of Europe and immigration in the UK press
This article asks how the EU is imagined and deployed in different justifications for national restrictions on the free movement of European citizens. It does this by analysing press coverage in the UK, where concerns about the issues of immigration and European integration contributed to a victory for ‘Brexit’ in the 2016 referendum. It develops a novel technique for analysing the political dimension of media debates offering a conceptual map to…
The Modern Slavery Agenda
The Modern Slavery Agenda
Modern slavery, in the form of labour exploitation, domestic servitude, sexual trafficking, child labour and cannabis farming, is still growing in the UK and industrialised countries, despite the introduction of laws to try to stem it. This hugely topical book is the first to assess the legislation critically, using evidence from across the field, and to offer strategies for improvement in policy and practice. The book argues that, contrary to it…
Norm destruction, norm resilience
Principles of refugee protection in Europe are said to have come under great pressure with the populist and nationalist backlash to the ‘migrant crisis’, often traced to illiberal regimes in post-communist countries. This paper tests these claims by comparatively analysing media coverage in the UK and Hungary, establishing the extent to which specific norms were challenged or upheld in April and September 2015. It develops a new methodology conne…
On the Unreliability of Multiple Systems Estimation for Estimating the Number of Potential Victims of Modern Slavery in the UK
Accurate records of victims of modern slavery identified by various agencies allow investigators to compare different jurisdictions, track fluctuations in prevalence over time and evaluate preventative interventions. As well as enumerating those victims known to agencies, it would be desirable to know how many are working undetected under conditions of modern slavery and thus deduce the total number involved. To estimate the number of undetected …
Whitehead et al. Response to “Misunderstandings of Multiple Systems Estimation
Response to Vincent et al.'s (2020) letter in this journal concerning our recent paper on multiple Sysytems EStimation
Unveiling child trafficking
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) included the goal of combating child labor and human trafficking, but regional variations complicate efforts to address these problems. In Sierra Leone, the government has taken steps to address these issues, but challenges remain, particularly in relation to access to education, in rural areas, and for young girls. This article examines local stakeholder understandings of child trafficking, and the distin…
“This Pandemic Has Opened Another Box of War”
There is growing evidence of the significant impacts of COVID-19 and government responses for those who experience human trafficking and modern slavery (HTMS). There is less known about experiences of service-providers, effects on international partnerships, and the implications of funder responses. This article uses the prism of safeguarding to explore the challenges faced during the pandemic for service-providers in Kenya and Uganda, paying att…
Stakeholder perceptions of gaps and solutions in addressing child trafficking
Mind the Gap(s)? Evidence and UK Policymaking on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery
This article examines four critical gaps in the evidence-policy relationship on human trafficking and modern slavery (HTMS) in the UK: prioritization, epistemology, synchronization and trust. Drawing on multiple sources, the authors outline key features of the landscape around evidence and policy in the UK, identify ways to address gaps and bring together researchers, those directly affected, and policymakers. The findings point to a growing cons…
From Engagement to Co-Production
Exploring Vulnerabilities
Using the Social Ecological Model (SEM), this study examined factors contributing to children’s vulnerability to trafficking in Sierra Leone. Understanding these factors is critical for designing effective, multi-level interventions. We analyzed qualitative data from a mixed-methods prevalence estimation study (2020–2021) conducted in trafficking hotspot regions. Data included in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with survivors, caregi…
Political science (17 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Political economy (12 works) · Economics (11 works) · Law (11 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (10 works) · Politics (9 works) · Immigration (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Sex work and related issues (8 works)