States and the political economy of unfree labour

A growing body of academic and policy research seeks to understand and address the problem of contemporary unfree labour. In this article, we argue that this literature could be strengthened by a stronger conceptualization of, and more systematic attention towards, the role of national states. In particular, we argue that there is a need to move beyond simplistic conceptualisations of states as simple agents of regulation and criminal justice enforcement who respond to the problem of unfree labour, and to recognize the causal and multifaceted role that national states play in creating the conditions in which unfree labour can flourish. We propose a framework to understand and compare the ways in which national states shape the political economy of unfree labour. Focusing on the United States, we outline three arenas of governance in which national states have been particularly central to enabling the conditions for unfree labour: the regulation of labour mobility, labour market regulation, and business regulation. We conclude by reflecting on the comparative political economy research that will be required to understand the role of different states in shaping the conditions in which unfree labour thrives or is eliminated

The Carina Project. IV. radial velocity distribution

We present new and accurate radial velocity (RV) measurements of luminous stars of all ages (old horizontal branch, intermediate--age red clump, and young blue plume, as well as red giants of a range of ages; 20.6<V<22) in the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy, based on low-resolution spectra collected with the FORS2 multi-object slit spectrograph at the VLT. This data set was complemented by RV measurements based on medium and high-resolution archive spectra of brighter (V<20.6) Carina targets collected with the GIRAFFE multi-object fiber spectrograph at the VLT. The combined sample includes more than 21,340 individual spectra of ~2,000 stars covering the entire body of the galaxy. To further improve the statistics, the accurate RV measurements recently provided by Walker et al.(2007) were also added to the current data set. We ended up with a sample of ~1,370 RV measurements of candidate Carina stars that is ~75% larger than any previous Carina RV sample. The mean RV across the body of the galaxy varies from ~220 km/s at a distance of 7arcmin (~200 pc) from the center to ~223 km/s at 13arcmin, (~400 pc, 6sigma level) and flattens out to a constant value of ~221 km/s at larger distances (600 pc, 4sigma level). Moreover and even more importantly, we found that in the Carina regions where the mean RV is smaller the dispersion is also smaller, and the RV distribution is more centrally peaked (i.e. the kurtosis attains larger values). There is evidence of a secondary maximum in RV across the Carina center (|D|<200 pc). The occurrence of a secondary feature across the Carina center is also supported by the flat-topped radial distribution based on the photometric catalog.Comment: Accepted on PASP, 9 pages, 13 figures, 1 tabl

Hyper-precarious lives : Migrants, work and forced labour in the Global North

This paper unpacks the contested inter-connections between neoliberal work and welfare regimes, asylum and immigration controls, and the exploitation of migrant workers. The concept of precarity is explored as a way of understanding intensifying and insecure post-Fordist work in late capitalism. Migrants are centrally implicated in highly precarious work experiences at the bottom end of labour markets in Global North countries, including becoming trapped in forced labour. Building on existing research on the working experiences of migrants in the Global North, the main part of the article considers three questions. First, what is precarity and how does the concept relate to working lives? Second, how might we understand the causes of extreme forms of migrant labour exploitation in precarious lifeworlds? Third, how can we adequately theorize these particular experiences using the conceptual tools of forced labour, slavery, unfreedom and precarity? We use the concept of ‘hyper-precarity’ alongside notions of a ‘continuum of unfreedom’ as a way of furthering human geographical inquiry into the intersections between various terrains of social action and conceptual debate concerning migrants’ precarious working experiences

Heterologous Expression Of Human α6β4β3α5 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors: Binding Properties Consistent With Their Natural Expression Require Quaternary Subunit Assembly Including The α5 Subunit

Heterologous expression and lesioning studies were conducted to identify possible subunit assembly partners in nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) containing α6 subunits (α6* nAChR). SH-EP1 human epithelial cells were transfected with the requisite subunits to achieve stable expression of human α6β2, α6β4, α6β2β3, α6β4β3, or α6β4β3α5 nAChR. Cells expressing subunits needed to form α6β4β3α5 nAChR exhibited saturable [3H]epibatidine binding (Kd = 95.9 ± 8.3 pM and Bmax = 84.5 ± 1.6 fmol/mg of protein). The rank order of binding competition potency (Ki) for prototypical nicotinic compounds was α-conotoxin Mll (6 nM) \u3e nicotine (156 nM) ∼ methyllycaconitine (200 nM) \u3e α-bungarotoxin (\u3e10 μM), similar to that for nAChR in dopamine neurons displaying a distinctive pharmacology. 6-Hydroxydopamine lesioning studies indicated that β3 and α5 subunits are likely partners of the α6 subunits in nAChR expressed in dopaminergic cell bodies. Similar to findings in rodents, quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reactions of human brain indicated that α6 subunit mRNA expression was 13-fold higher in the substantia nigra than in the cortex or the rest of the brain. Thus, heterologous expression studies suggest that the human α5 subunit makes a critical contribution to α6β4β3α5 nAChR assembly into a ligand-binding form with native α6*-nAChR-like pharmacology and of potential physiological and pathophysiological relevance

More than just victims: the truth about human trafficking

Benjamin S Buckland argues that the language used to debate human trafficking can cloud the issue itself. Exploitation is only one side of the story. Deep-rooted socioeconomic and political reasons explain why some people fall into illegal or forced migration channels, and tackling these fundamentals requires a new language to acknowledge the agency and ambition of trafficked persons. Copyright (c) 2008 The Author. Journal compilation (c) 2008 ippr.