Slavery Today

by Kevin Bales and Rebecca Cornell

Book Overview

Forced to work in back-breaking, under- or unpaid jobs from agricultural work to prostitution, slaves today -- men and women, old and young -- are trapped in the same spiral of brutality and control they have endured for centuries, with one crucial difference: a collapse in the price of human beings. Globalization, governmental corruption, and the population explosion have thrust billions of people into the pool of potential slaves. This huge surplus...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0888997728
• ISBN13: 9780888997722
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Groundwood Books
• Length: 141 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

High school World Cultures Teacher Sees Need for ALL Students to Read this Book

As a high school World Cultures teacher, who for many years, has taught my students about modern slavery, I am constantly looking for the best resources to excite my students into action. I have read all of Kevin Bales' books including the modern slavery "bible", Disposable People, but I find them too lengthy to bring into a semester course. This new book, also written by the modern slavery authority Kevin Bales, combines all of the successful elements of his other books- anecdotal evidence, statistics, personal stories, world government reactions and ways to help but does it in an accessible format that lends itself to time limitations. After reading this new book, I gave it to a few of my students to get their reactions. They said what a fast read it was and how they were compelled to finish. Also exciting was that they said they then registered on the freetheslaves website and were now called to do more than just know about the problem. I have on my 2009 budget a classroom set of these books and hope to find the money to buy one for each student. The hope is they take the book home and share with their parents, friends and neighbors. The realities of modern slavery need to be exposed and this little 141 page book may just be the device necessary to carrying out this necessary project. My suggestion is any social studies teacher, specifically economics teachers, should be using this book to teach the basics of global economies, supply and demand, fair trade vs. free trade, and other economic basics that are often cold and not interesting to students. Put a face and a story behind the concepts and not only do you teach the definitions, you awaken the world to the continued injustices happening each and every day; and most importantly,you empower your students. Teaching students to make subtle but important choices through their purchases teaches responsibility and respect for humanity and the power of their economic buying power.