Labeled "forced labor" or "(modern) slavery" or even "trade in human beings" depending on the institution and author, certain contemporary forms of subjection are still qualified with reference to historical forms of Greek, African or American slavery. Reworked and underlaid by an extensive morphological definition, this metaphorical slavery groups together a heterogeneous set of oppressive, labor relations based on coercion and menaces and ranging from debt-bondage and sweatshops to prostitution. This definition targets the wage-earning relationship and the condition of wives in the household as well as various forms of accepted exploitation. Beyond this questionable usage of a terminology that originally referred to a lasting appropriation of persons considered to be things and of their assignment to specific social classes, this critique dwells on two questions: on the one hand, an interpretation of the reasons for the success of this metaphorical slavery, which seems to stem from a genealogical conception of social relations; and on the other hand, the effectiveness of the means used by international and humanitarian organizations for fighting against a set of afflictions that have been so poorly intellectually delimited, especially in a context where this so-called "slavery" represents a major contribution to global capitalism owing, in particular, to migratory phenomena.

Slavery Subjection Debt-bondage Prostitution Immigration humanitarian organizations International organizations

social status immigration minimum wage slave