What happens after 'modern slavery' rescues? A case of rescued bonded labourers in 'waiting' in India

Bibliographic Data

ID3604369
AuthorsPankhuri Agarwal (0000-0002-5561-4304, University of Bath, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume73
Issue6
Pages1479-1498
Publication date2024-10-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00380261241274886
OpenAlexW4403510392
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited41

What happens after rescue from modern slavery, the third largest organized crime in the world? The mainstream perspective suggests that people can be rescued and set free from slavery. This article challenges this assumption by arguing that rescue inflicts more violence and sends workers back to exploitative labour. Based on a multi-sited ethnographic study of 31 workers in the informal sector (and 10 civil society and state officials) in India who have being rescued (under the Bonded Labour System Abolition Act 1976), this article shows that workers have been stuck/waiting in the legal process for up to 37 years. To demonstrate the same, the article engages with the concept of 'waiting'. The notion of waiting emerges as a poignant illustration of the profound disjunction between the visions of freedom from slavery held by states (manifested through standard operating procedures) and non-governmental organizations (with their emphasis on rescue and rehabilitation), and the lived experiences of the workers themselves, who perceive the post-rescue process as an enduring state of limbo. By bridging the realms of literature on waiting with that of human trafficking, this article contributes to the field of critical slavery studies, bonded labour and multi-sited ethnography

Sociology · China's Global Influence and Migration · Gender Studies · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Sex work and related issues

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