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Outputs (17)

Unfreedom in Labour Relations: From a Politics of Rescue to a Politics of Solidarity? (2022)
Journal Article
McGrath, S., Rogaly, B., & Waite, L. (2022). Unfreedom in Labour Relations: From a Politics of Rescue to a Politics of Solidarity?. Globalizations, 19(6), 911-921. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2022.2095119

In this introduction to the Special Forum we seek to explore the possibilities for challenging labor unfreedoms through exercising solidarity. We critique the prevailing framings and dominant politics of ‘combatting modern-day slavery’ – or what we r... Read More about Unfreedom in Labour Relations: From a Politics of Rescue to a Politics of Solidarity?.

The Business of Abolition: Marketizing ‘Anti‐slavery’ (2021)
Journal Article
McGrath, S., & Mieres, F. (2022). The Business of Abolition: Marketizing ‘Anti‐slavery’. Development and Change, 53(1), 3-30. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12701

This article conceptualizes contemporary abolitionism as a commodifying cause characterized by multiple processes of marketization. It demonstrates how concerns about the unethical commodification of labour form the basis of a variety of marketizatio... Read More about The Business of Abolition: Marketizing ‘Anti‐slavery’.

Ripe to be Heard: Worker Voice in the Fair Food Programme (2021)
Journal Article
Mieres, F., & McGrath, S. (2021). Ripe to be Heard: Worker Voice in the Fair Food Programme. International Labour Review, 160(4), 631-647. https://doi.org/10.1111/ilr.12204

The Fair Food Program (FFP) provides a mechanism through which agricultural workers’ collective voice is expressed, heard and responded to within global value chains. The FFP's model of worker-driven social responsibility presents an alternative to t... Read More about Ripe to be Heard: Worker Voice in the Fair Food Programme.

Anti-slavery as development: a global politics of rescue (2018)
Journal Article
McGrath, S., & Watson, S. (2018). Anti-slavery as development: a global politics of rescue. Geoforum, 93, 22-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.04.013

Trafficking, forced labour and ‘slavery’ (TFLS) have become a central cause for our time, but anti-TFLS efforts have also come under forceful criticism. Amidst these ongoing debates, we observe that TFLS is currently being reframed as a problem of an... Read More about Anti-slavery as development: a global politics of rescue.

Dis/articulations and the interrogation of development in GPN research (2017)
Journal Article
McGrath, S. (2018). Dis/articulations and the interrogation of development in GPN research. Progress in Human Geography, 42(4), 509-528. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132517700981

In spite of serving as the purported goal of the global production network (GPN) approach, development has been left undefined in the GPN literature, with ‘GPN 2.0’ now offering an impoverished understanding of development. This article reviews the e... Read More about Dis/articulations and the interrogation of development in GPN research.

European Policy Brief: Four principles for addressing trafficking, forced labour and/or slavery in supply chains (2017)
Report
McGrath, S., & Mieres, F. (2017). European Policy Brief: Four principles for addressing trafficking, forced labour and/or slavery in supply chains. [No known commissioning body]

Concerns around trafficking, forced labour and slavery (TFLS) have grown in recent years, with increasing attention being paid to TFLS within businesses' supply chains. In response, a diverse range of initiatives have been launched to address the TFL... Read More about European Policy Brief: Four principles for addressing trafficking, forced labour and/or slavery in supply chains.

Temporary migration, precarious employment and unfree labour relations: Exploring the ‘continuum of exploitation’ in Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (2016)
Journal Article
Strauss, K., & McGrath, S. (2017). Temporary migration, precarious employment and unfree labour relations: Exploring the ‘continuum of exploitation’ in Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Geoforum, 78, 199-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.01.008

Exploitation of international migrant workers in the Global North has been increasingly framed in terms of trafficking, in political and legal domains and by the media. Yet posing trafficking as a phenomenon that captures the unfreedom experienced by... Read More about Temporary migration, precarious employment and unfree labour relations: Exploring the ‘continuum of exploitation’ in Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Unfree Labour (2016)
Book Chapter
McGrath, S. (2016). Unfree Labour. In N. Castree, M. Goodchild, A. Kobayashi, W. Liu, D. Marston, & D. Richardson (Eds.), International encyclopedia of geography : people, the Earth, environment, and technology. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118786352

The persistence and reproduction of unfree labor challenges our understanding of labor relations under capitalism. Some of those concerned with this phenomenon label it “new slavery,” but this implies that it had ended and has since returned. An anal... Read More about Unfree Labour.

Unfreedom and Workers’ Power: Ever-present Possibilities (2015)
Book Chapter
McGrath, S., & Strauss, K. (2015). Unfreedom and Workers’ Power: Ever-present Possibilities. In K. van der Pijl (Ed.), Handbook of the international political economy of production (299-317). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783470211.00029

Trafficking, forced labour and related phenomena have been documented time and again in recent years by advocacy groups, the media and government agencies. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that there are 20.9 million people in so... Read More about Unfreedom and Workers’ Power: Ever-present Possibilities.

Many Chains to Break: The Multi-dimensional Concept of Slave Labour in Brazil (2013)
Journal Article
McGrath, S. (2013). Many Chains to Break: The Multi-dimensional Concept of Slave Labour in Brazil. Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography, 45(4), 1005-1028. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2012.01024.x

This article examines the concept of slave labour through two case studies from Brazil. One involves internal migrant workers and the other cross-border migrant workers. There have been accusations of slave labour in both cases. I argue that slave la... Read More about Many Chains to Break: The Multi-dimensional Concept of Slave Labour in Brazil.

Fuelling Global Production Networks with Slave Labour?: Migrant Sugar Cane Workers in the Brazilian Ethanol GPN (2013)
Journal Article
McGrath, S. (2013). Fuelling Global Production Networks with Slave Labour?: Migrant Sugar Cane Workers in the Brazilian Ethanol GPN. Geoforum, 44, 32-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2012.06.011

This article presents an analysis of slave labour (as it is known in Brazil) among sugar cane workers within a globalising production network. It employs the Global Production Network (GPN) framework to argue that the dynamics of production networks... Read More about Fuelling Global Production Networks with Slave Labour?: Migrant Sugar Cane Workers in the Brazilian Ethanol GPN.

Social Reproduction as Unregulated Work (2009)
Journal Article
McGrath, S., & DeFilippis, J. (2009). Social Reproduction as Unregulated Work. Work, Employment and Society, 23(1), 66-83. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017008099778

In this article, two cases of paid social reproductive labour performed in the home in New York City are examined: subsidized child care and paid domestic work. Particular attention is paid to the organization of the industries and the experiences of... Read More about Social Reproduction as Unregulated Work.

On the Characteristics and Organization of Unregulated Work in Cities of the United States (2009)
Journal Article
DeFilippis, J., Martin, N., Bernhardt, A., & McGrath, S. (2009). On the Characteristics and Organization of Unregulated Work in Cities of the United States. Urban Geography, 30(1), 63-90. https://doi.org/10.2747/0272-3638.30.1.63

In this article, we analyze the routine violations of employment and labor laws—what we call "unregulated work"—in New York City and Chicago. In these jobs workers are paid less than the minimum wage, are subject to unsafe working conditions, and are... Read More about On the Characteristics and Organization of Unregulated Work in Cities of the United States.

The state of worker protections in the United States: Unregulated work in New York City. (2008)
Journal Article
Bernhardt, A., McGrath, S., & DeFilippis, J. (2008). The state of worker protections in the United States: Unregulated work in New York City. International Labour Review, 147(2-3), 135-162. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1564-913x.2008.00029.x

Using original data gathered in 2003–06, the authors examine the prevalence and types of non-compliance with labour law in New York City. Workplace violations — or “unregulated work”— are widespread across a range of low-wage industries and have been... Read More about The state of worker protections in the United States: Unregulated work in New York City..