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University of California Press

The Slave Next Door

Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today
by Kevin Bales (Author), Ron Soodalter (Author)
Paperback eBook
Price: $29.95 / £25.00
Publication Date: Aug 2010
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9780520268661
Trim Size: 6 x 9
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About the Book

In this riveting book, authors and authorities on modern slavery Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter expose the disturbing phenomenon of human trafficking and slavery that exists now in the United States. In The Slave Next Door we find that these horrific human rights violations are all around us; people sold into slavery are often hidden in plain sight: the dishwasher in the kitchen of the neighborhood restaurant, the kids on the corner selling cheap trinkets, the man sweeping the floor of the local department store. In these pages we also meet some unexpected modern-day slave owners, such as a 27-year old middle-class Texas housewife who is currently serving a life sentence for offences including slavery. Weaving together a wealth of voices—from slaves, slaveholders, and traffickers as well as from experts, counselors, law enforcement officers, rescue and support groups, and community leaders—this book is also a call to action, telling what we, as private citizens and political activists, can do to raise community awareness, hold politicians accountable, and finally bring an end to this horrific and traumatic crime. 

About the Author

Kevin Bales is the author of Ending Slavery and Disposable People, both from UC Press. He is also Co-Founder of Free the Slaves, Washington DC, and Professor of Contemporary Slavery at the WIlberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull. He is the world's leading expert on contemporary slavery.
Ron Soodalter, historian, folklorist, and lecturer, is the author of Hanging Captain Gordon: The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trader, as well as articles on the historic and modern slave trade, the Civil War, and the American West. A respected Lincolnian scholar, he serves on the Board of the Abraham Lincoln Institute.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Paperback Edition
Acknowledgments

PART I: SLAVES IN THE LAND OF THE FREE
1. The Old Slavery and the New
2. House Slaves
3. Slaves in the Pastures of Plenty
4. Supply and Demand
5. New Business Models
6. Eating, Wearing, Walking, and Talking Slavery

PART II: THE FINAL EMANCIPATION
7. Slaves in the Neighborhood
8. States of Confusion
9. The Feds
10. A Future without Slavery

Appendix: For Further Information
Notes
Index

Reviews

“An informative call to action . . . with a helpful emphasis on how ordinary individuals can recognize and report coercive situations, creating a humane and helpful primer on how to sever the links that create and hide human bondage.”
— Publishers Weekly
"The authors of this text strongly urge action in recognizing the slavery next door, in our block, city, or country and take action to terminate it. They give means to accomplish the goal. It is, indeed, the duty of every American to read this book and burn with anger over man's inhumanity to man." 
— Journal of American Culture
"If you read one book on human trafficking this year, make it The Slave Next Door. . . . Digestible, enjoyable, and ultimately uplifting."
— Change.org
“Anyone wanting a better understanding of the ongoing problem of slavery in the United States—and their own role in perpetuating or eradicating it—should read this book.”
— California Lawyer
"Essential reading for anyone interested in human rights. . . . [The authors] appeal to the reader's sense of justice and compassion."
— Foreign Policy in Focus
"With the help of this great book . . . we can shift from ignoring this crude reality to doing something to eradicate this abominable practice."
— African Politics Portal
“An arresting volume.”
— History Wire
"Once again, Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter make us confront a tragic reality—there are as many as 27 million people trapped in modern slavery worldwide. In this book, we hear the voices of survivors and those who are fighting every day for freedom."—Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Chair of the House Judiciary Committee

"Most Americans believe that slavery in our country ended with the Emancipation Proclamation. They are wrong. As Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter document in this excellent volume, human bondage is a reality for thousands of children, women and men living in the United States. The Slave Next Door exposes slavery in today's America in all its forms, and sounds a call to arms to government, corporations, and private citizens alike."—Kerry Kennedy, Founder, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights

"This is a book to make you angry. From Florida field workers who pick some of the fruits and vegetables we eat to prisoners in China who make desk lamps we can buy at Wal-Mart, Bales and Soodalter show us the manifold ways that unfree labor is woven into the American economy. And, most important, they show us what we can do to stop it."—Adam Hochschild, author of Bury the Chains and King Leopold's Ghost

Media

Kevin Bales: How to combat modern slavery

Interview with the authors.