Unfree labour within and beyond the Decent Work Agenda

Anne Lisa Carstensen

Chapter 12 in The Elgar Companion to Decent Work and the Sustainable Development Goals, 2025, pp 152-162 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This article examines the contemporary debate on unfree labour. Against the backdrop of a changing global labour landscape, it discusses current policy approaches in this area, drawing on Brazil’s past initiatives to eradicate forced labour. The author examines the dual nature of expanding the concept of unfree labour, highlighting its potential to expose violence and exploitation while cautioning against conceptual dilution. It explores the intersection of unfree labour with broader issues of everyday abuse and structural vulnerability in modern labour markets, challenging the conventional representation of forced labour within the decent work agenda. The article critically assesses different definitions of unfree labour, emphasising the need for a nuanced understanding, and proposes a heuristic for research at the intersections of production and reproduction networks, calling for an intersectional perspective that incorporates global inequalities, gender, racism, migration and ecological considerations.

Keywords: Business and Management; Development Studies; Economics and Finance; Sociology and Social Policy; Sustainable Development Goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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