Human Trafficking and Heroic Consumerism
Consumers are the new activists in the fight against modern slavery, with awareness campaigns urging citizens to use their consumer power to demand an end to labour exploitation. The contribution of political, or ethical, consumerism campaigns to the trafficking narrative is examined in this article...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Queensland University of Technology
2018-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/911 |
| _version_ | 1823944289164460032 |
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| author | Erin O'Brien |
| author_facet | Erin O'Brien |
| author_sort | Erin O'Brien |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Consumers are the new activists in the fight against modern slavery, with awareness campaigns urging citizens to use their consumer power to demand an end to labour exploitation. The contribution of political, or ethical, consumerism campaigns to the trafficking narrative is examined in this article through an analysis of the characterisation of consumers and corporations in campaigns from SlaveryFootprint.org, Stop the Traffik UK, and World Vision Australia. This article argues that campaigns urging political consumerism depict consumers as the heroic rescuers of enslaved victims, and embed solutions to modern slavery within a culture of unquestioned capitalism. This approach may have the unintended consequence of sidelining victims from the trafficking story as the focus of the narrative becomes the product, rather than the victim, of labour exploitation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T08:08:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-520cd731296d4f308b5f7138d4eaaf35 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2202-7998 2202-8005 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T08:08:25Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy |
| spelling | doaj.art-520cd731296d4f308b5f7138d4eaaf352022-12-21T21:57:17ZengQueensland University of TechnologyInternational Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy2202-79982202-80052018-12-0174516610.5204/ijcjsd.v7i4.430911Human Trafficking and Heroic ConsumerismErin O'Brien0Queensland University of TechnologyConsumers are the new activists in the fight against modern slavery, with awareness campaigns urging citizens to use their consumer power to demand an end to labour exploitation. The contribution of political, or ethical, consumerism campaigns to the trafficking narrative is examined in this article through an analysis of the characterisation of consumers and corporations in campaigns from SlaveryFootprint.org, Stop the Traffik UK, and World Vision Australia. This article argues that campaigns urging political consumerism depict consumers as the heroic rescuers of enslaved victims, and embed solutions to modern slavery within a culture of unquestioned capitalism. This approach may have the unintended consequence of sidelining victims from the trafficking story as the focus of the narrative becomes the product, rather than the victim, of labour exploitation.https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/911Slaveryconsumerethical consumerismpolitical consumerismtraffickingnarrative |
| spellingShingle | Erin O'Brien Human Trafficking and Heroic Consumerism International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy Slavery consumer ethical consumerism political consumerism trafficking narrative |
| title | Human Trafficking and Heroic Consumerism |
| title_full | Human Trafficking and Heroic Consumerism |
| title_fullStr | Human Trafficking and Heroic Consumerism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Human Trafficking and Heroic Consumerism |
| title_short | Human Trafficking and Heroic Consumerism |
| title_sort | human trafficking and heroic consumerism |
| topic | Slavery consumer ethical consumerism political consumerism trafficking narrative |
| url | https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/911 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT erinobrien humantraffickingandheroicconsumerism |