Running head: A WORLD ENSLAVED REVIEW

A Review of A World Enslaved by E. Benjamin Skinner

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A WORLD ENSLAVED ARTICLE REVIEW

Article Summary
Modern slavery, otherwise known as contemporary slavery, is an institution of slavery
that continues to exist in todays world despite a widespread delusion that slavery ended in the
19th century. A World Enslaved, by Benjamin Skinner is an investigation into the concept of
modern slavery. It reveals how slavery continues to thrive in our society despite many
legislations enacted to slavery died years ago, and that the only manifestation of modern slavery
is low paying jobs or high-paying jobs that eats the bulk of individuals time. This warped
imagination is just too ignorant for a vice being perpetrated right under our noses and in its most
virulent form.
In Haiti, just five hours from the United States, human beings are sold for as low as fifty
dollars. This price, to him, is even lower than what the slave dealers of the medieval age asked
for their commodities.' The situation becomes even more severe when he determines that these
young boys and girls are enticed from their poor families with hopes of education and better
lives, only to be traded as domestic and sex workers. In a shocking conversation with one of the
human traffickers, Skinner reveals how millions of impoverished children from underdeveloped
nations find their way into European countries with faked adoption papers just to be only to be
condemned to a life of servitude and sexual molestation.
For some like Gonoo Lal Kol, a male Indian quarry miner, freedom is just but some
ambiguous and a foreign term. All his life, he has worked 14 hours a day together with his family
in the quarries without pay, save for a meager meal, alcohol and bare subsistence stipends he
occasionally receives from his master. He was a born slave, and for the past two generation Kol
and his fathers before have been trying to buy their freedom from a loan of 62 cents his greatgrandfather is said to have borrowed. Kol is just one in thousands of other forced laborers

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attempting to settle their debts each day of their tormented lives. This revolting practice
continues to thrive in South Asia despite such debt bondage lacking any legal standing in these
countries, mostly due to the illiteracy of its victims.
All hope is not however lost, though, according to Skinner, many grass-root organizations
and non-profit organization have sprung up in partnership with the international communities
and governments to combat this situation. Pragati Gramodyog Sansthan (PGS), an organization
in Uttar Pradesh, Southern India, is one such initiative that is famous for its unrelenting efforts at
freeing and educating bondage slaves to become better persons in the society. Elsewhere,
governments in the developed economies are also cracking whips on human trafficker, slavetrading pimps, and foreign labor contractors. These collective efforts aim at curtailing this
menace, but he observes that more has to be done, especially considering that contemporary
slavery continues to soar.
Critique
No one could have illustrated the concept of modern slavery any better than the award
winning journalist, E. Benjamin Skinner. In a calm and supported language, Skinner draws the
worlds attention to a vice we have learned not to see. For a time, the present generation has
prided itself as more civilized and self-aware, relegating issues such a slavery and child
trafficking as practices of the old and primitive generations of the past. This notion is entirely
ignorant and misleading, at least according to Skinner, who maintains that there are presently
more slaves on the planet than any other time in history slave-dealing. He goes ahead to justify
his claim in clear and professionally computed statistics that indicates that in Haiti alone, the
number of its children in bondage stands at 300,000. Such illustration of his theoretical claims
using factual evidence gives his research a more credible tinge.

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It is no surprise at all that modern slavery is slowly taking over our socio-economic
landscape. Many corporations, even in the United States, which claims to be leading the fight
against slavery, continues to employ lowly paid illegal immigrants from Latin America and other
underdeveloped regions. These laborers are usually held in bondage with agencies that act as
smugglers of human labor into developed countries and, therefore, expects a monthly share of
these workers wages as service fees. Further, Skinner reproaches the United Nation for its
passive war against this vice despite it being one of the organizations founding principles. This
admonition appears to be ethically justified by the fact that the current UN agenda is dominated
by parochial items when a vice of this gravity is getting close to no attention.
Skinner calls upon governments to redefine slavery in concise terms and employ
aggressive legislations against the perpetrators of this vice if they are to succeed in the war
against this social evil. Slavery exists in varied form and different levels, occasionally involving
fraud or arm-twisting individuals into doing inhumane works for little or no pay. Legitimate
business continues to thrive on such labor and yet governments and legal bodies continues to
spectate arms-crossed simply because legal statutes are not specific enough to warrant their
prosecution. For instance, in the early millennium, the United States under the stewardship of
President George W. Bush, the US Justice Department heightened its prosecution for the human
trafficker, yet at the same period, it only managed to liberate less than two percent of its modern
slaves.
Additionally, the author believes that the Western continents fight against contemporary
slavery has been marred by their twisted understanding of the concept of slavery. Some have
shifted their focus to sex trade with a misconstrued belief that it is the primary driver of slavery
presently, while others such as Germany, believing it to be an act of free will have

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decriminalized it. Yes, it is true sex trade is disgusting, but it should not cloud our perception of
other men. Women and children in forced labor in farm or domestic work. This is especially true
since recent effort to lock up trafficker and sex pimps have done little in curbing the aggregate
rates of human bondage.
The United States have already gained significant strides in the fight against modern
slavery as per this article, yet lasting solutions can only be met by instituting preventive
measures in the at-risk source countries. Skinner recommends more pressure from the US
government to countries in which this evil continues to exist such as India and also push the UN
towards this fight. Declaring slavery an international crisis and intensifying campaigns against
modern slavery will surely go a long way in making the present world a better place for every
man or woman whose life is torn apart by slavery.
It is a commendable work Skinner does in highlighting how slavery continues to thrive in
our quarters. I also find it difficult understanding how he manages to visit all this regions of
extreme human right violation and just walk away without any real efforts at changing the
situations present. Could it be that Skinners motive is not-all-selfless like he wants to portray
and is only doing his usual business as a journalist? He is quick to defend his stance by
suggesting that he had hoped his research would do a better job at saving more victims than what
he could personally help. So, until then, more people were just supposed to suffer from this
barbaric endeavor? Nonetheless, I agree with his observation that until governments give proper
definition to the idea of slavery, aggressively fight it in all its forms and empower slave abolition
groups, slavery will continue, and our rhetoric about abolition will continue to mean nothing.

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Conclusion
Slavery is an idea of the past and to make it our present preoccupation is an extremely
retrogressive and backward occurrence. It is, for this reason, we should all come out to fight it
with all vehemence and resources available. Understanding the gravity of this present time
menace and creating the necessary awareness is the right step towards fighting this vice. This
article promotes the idea of a free and fair world where every child will have an equal
opportunity to a decent life, education, and healthcare. I recommend this article to every liberal
minded and humanity loving individuals.

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References
Skinner, E. B. (2008). A world enslaved. Foreign Policy, (165), 62.