Kevin Bales
Disposable People
New Slavery in the Global Economy
Revised Edition
$21.95, £12.95 paperback
978-0-520-24384-2
Available Now
324 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 14 b/w photos, 2 tables, 1 line drawing
November 2004, Available worldwide
Categories: Sociology; Politics; Economics; Sociology of Labor
November 2004, Available worldwide
Categories: Sociology; Politics; Economics; Sociology of Labor
All of the author's royalties from this book go to fund antislavery projects around the world.
In 2002, The Carpet Slaves: Stolen Children of India, an HBO documentary based on Disposable People, won a Peabody and two Emmy Awards, one for Outstanding Investigative Journalism–Long Form and another for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Research.
In 2002, The Carpet Slaves: Stolen Children of India, an HBO documentary based on Disposable People, won a Peabody and two Emmy Awards, one for Outstanding Investigative Journalism–Long Form and another for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Research.
Praise for the first edition:
"An insightful overview [and] a powerful exposé of human tragedy."— Dallas Morning News
"A numbing indictment of our blindness to the new forms of slavery engendered by the global economy."—Kirkus Reviews
"Convincing, emotionally wrenching, and freighted with appropriate moral indignation, Kevin Bales's startling presentation shows us that while the general public is convinced slavery is a historical phenomenon of the ancient pastÉit is in actuality a widespread tragedy found worldwide and on a large scale. This book innovatively and usefully describes the permutations of an ancient tradition as it exists in this modern day and age."—Richard Pierre Claude, editor of Human Rights Quarterly
"A gripping account of the major forms slavery takes around the world today, introducing enslaved people, their families, and entire social strata deprived of the most basic rightsÉ. Disposable People is an eloquent pleaÉ. Avoiding easy moralism and sensationalism alike, it discloses the daily soul-destroying brutality of slavery on our planet today."—Paul Rosenberg, The Christian Science Monitor
"Bales is to be congratulated for bringing the immensity of the slavery problem to our attention. News accounts have highlighted the horrors of child labor, of exploited women in the developing world and abuses of workers in Latin America, but Bales's work shows how widespread and multi-faceted are the many problems that lead to treating people as disposable assets."—Joyce M. Davis, The Boston Book Review
"Because of globalization, Bales argues, every consumer is linked to slavery and the final chapter explains practical ways of helping to bring it to an end. Begin by buying this book-all proceeds go to the international fight against slavery."—The Sunday Tribune
"An insightful overview [and] a powerful exposé of human tragedy."— Dallas Morning News
"A numbing indictment of our blindness to the new forms of slavery engendered by the global economy."—Kirkus Reviews
"Convincing, emotionally wrenching, and freighted with appropriate moral indignation, Kevin Bales's startling presentation shows us that while the general public is convinced slavery is a historical phenomenon of the ancient pastÉit is in actuality a widespread tragedy found worldwide and on a large scale. This book innovatively and usefully describes the permutations of an ancient tradition as it exists in this modern day and age."—Richard Pierre Claude, editor of Human Rights Quarterly
"A gripping account of the major forms slavery takes around the world today, introducing enslaved people, their families, and entire social strata deprived of the most basic rightsÉ. Disposable People is an eloquent pleaÉ. Avoiding easy moralism and sensationalism alike, it discloses the daily soul-destroying brutality of slavery on our planet today."—Paul Rosenberg, The Christian Science Monitor
"Bales is to be congratulated for bringing the immensity of the slavery problem to our attention. News accounts have highlighted the horrors of child labor, of exploited women in the developing world and abuses of workers in Latin America, but Bales's work shows how widespread and multi-faceted are the many problems that lead to treating people as disposable assets."—Joyce M. Davis, The Boston Book Review
"Because of globalization, Bales argues, every consumer is linked to slavery and the final chapter explains practical ways of helping to bring it to an end. Begin by buying this book-all proceeds go to the international fight against slavery."—The Sunday Tribune
"A well-researched, scholarly, and deeply disturbing exposé of modern-day slavery with well-thought-out strategies for what to do to combat this scourge. None of us is allowed the luxury of imagined impotence. We can do something about it."—Desmond Tutu
Slavery is illegal throughout the world, yet more than twenty-seven million people are still trapped in one of history's oldest social institutions. Kevin Bales's disturbing story of contemporary slavery reaches from Pakistan's brick kilns and Thailand's brothels to various multinational corporations. His investigations reveal how the tragic emergence of a "new slavery" is inextricably linked to the global economy. This completely revised edition includes a new preface.
Understanding Global Slavery: A Reader, by Kevin BalesEnding Slavery: How We Free Today's Slaves, by Kevin BalesSlave Revolts in Antiquity, by Theresa Urbainczyk