Modern Slavery, Unfree Labour and the Labour Market: The Social Dynamics of Legal Characterization

Treating the United Kingdom’s Modern Slavery Act as its focus, this article examines what the legal characterization of labour unfreedom reveals about the underlying conception of the labour market that informs contemporary approaches to labour law in the United Kingdom. It discusses how unfree labour is conceptualized within two key literatures – Marxist-inspired political economy and liberal approaches to modern slavery – and their underlying assumptions of the labour market and how it operates. As an alternative to these depictions of the labour market, it proposes a legal institutionalist or constitutive account. It develops an approach to legal characterization and jurisdiction that is attentive to modes of governing and the role of political and legal differentiation both in producing labour exploitation and unfree labour and in developing strategies for its elimination. It argues that the problem with the modern slavery approach to unfree labour is that it tends to displace labour law as the principal remedy to the problem of labour abuse and exploitation, while simultaneously reinforcing the idea that flexible labour markets of the type that prevails in the United Kingdom are realms of labour freedom

Evaluating working conditions in the informal economy: evidence from the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey

Although it is widely held that working conditions in the informal economy are worse than in the formal economy, little evidence has been so far provided. The aim of this article is to fill this lacuna by comparing the working conditions of informal employees with formal employees using the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analysis provides a nuanced and variegated appreciation of which working conditions are worse for informal employees, which are no different, and which are better for informal than formal employees. The article concludes by discussing the theoretical and policy implications

Arctic winter 2005: Implications for stratospheric ozone loss and climate change

The Arctic polar vortex exhibited widespread regions of low temperatures during the winter of 2005, resulting in significant ozone depletion by chlorine and bromine species. We show that chemical loss of column ozone (deltaO3) and the volume of Arctic vortex air cold enough to support the existence of polar stratospheric clouds (V_PSC) both exceed levels found for any other Arctic winter during the past 40 years. Cold conditions and ozone loss in the lowermost Arctic stratosphere (e.g., between potential temperatures of 360 to 400 K) were particularly unusual compared to previous years. Measurements indicate DO3 = 121 ± 20 DU and that deltaO3 versus V_PSC lies along an extension of the compact, near linear relation observed for previous Arctic winters. The maximum value of V_PSC during five to ten year intervals exhibits a steady, monotonic increase over the past four decades, indicating that the coldest Arctic winters have become significantly colder, and hence are more conducive to ozone depletion by anthropogenic halogens

A trajectory-based estimate of the tropospheric ozone column using the residual method

We estimate the tropospheric column ozone using a forward trajectory model to increase the horizontal resolution of the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) derived stratospheric column ozone. Subtracting the MLS stratospheric column from Ozone Monitoring Instrument total column measurements gives the trajectory enhanced tropospheric ozone residual (TTOR). Because of different tropopause definitions, we validate the basic residual technique by computing the 200-hPa-to-surface column and comparing it to the same product from ozonesondes and Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer measurements. Comparisons show good agreement in the tropics and reasonable agreement at middle latitudes, but there is a persistent low bias in the TTOR that may be due to a slight high bias in MLS stratospheric column. With the improved stratospheric column resolution, we note a strong correlation of extratropical tropospheric ozone column anomalies with probable troposphere-stratosphere exchange events or folds. The folds can be identified by their colocation with strong horizontal tropopause gradients. TTOR anomalies due to folds may be mistaken for pollution events since folds often occur in the Atlantic and Pacific pollution corridors. We also compare the 200-hPa-to-surface column with Global Modeling Initiative chemical model estimates of the same quantity. While the tropical comparisons are good, we note that chemical model variations in 200-hPa-to-surface column at middle latitudes are much smaller than seen in the TTOR

From severe to routine labour exploitation: The case of migrant workers in the UK food industry

The issue of exploitative labour practices against migrant workers has been well established in previous work. Yet most research and policy focus on severe forms of exploitation, including types of ‘modern slavery’ such as human trafficking and forced labour. Research has paid less attention to ‘routine’ labour abuses that are less extreme than severe exploitation, but which are still exploitative or harmful. This article argues that a stronger emphasis is needed on routine labour exploitation, which risks being overlooked when contrasted with severe exploitation. Drawing on a qualitative study of migrant labour in the UK food industry, the article demonstrates that workers experience a range of mistreatment in the workplace, which is unlikely to fall within the scope of severe exploitation and remit of ‘criminal justice’ interventions. In order to achieve full ‘labour justice’, more consistent attention is needed on these routine and banal practices, not just the most brutal

Mortality of drug-resistant tuberculosis in high-burden countries: comparison of routine drug susceptibility testing with whole-genome sequencing

Background: Drug-resistance threatens global tuberculosis control. We examined mortality in patients with tuberculosis from high-burden countries, according to concordance or discordance of results from drug susceptibility testing done locally and whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Methods: We collected pulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates and clinical data from adult tuberculosis patients from Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Peru, and Thailand, stratified by HIV status and drug resistance, from 2013 to 2016. Sites tested drug susceptibility using routinely available methods. WGS was done on Illumina HiSeq 2500 in the USA and Switzerland, and TBprofiler used to analyse the genomes. We analysed mortality in multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for sex, age, HIV-status, history of tuberculosis, and sputum positivity. Findings: We included 582 tuberculosis patients. The median age was 33 years (interquartile range 27-43 years), 225 (39%) were female, and 247 (42%) were HIV-positive. Based on WGS, 339 (58%) isolates were pan- susceptible, 35 (6%) monoresistant, 146 (25%) multidrug-resistant, and 24 (4%) pre-/ extensively drug-resistant (pre-XDR/XDR). The local results were discordant with the WGS results in 130/582 (22%) of patients. All testing methods identified isoniazid and rifampicin resistance with a high agreement. Resistance to ethambutol, pyrazinamide, and second-line drugs was rarely tested locally. Of 576 patients with known treatment, 86 (15%) patients received inappropriate treatment according to WGS results and the World Health Organization (WHO) treatment guidelines. The analysis of mortality was based on 530 patients; 63 (12%) died, and 77 patients (15%) received inappropriate treatment. Mortality ranged from 6% in patients with pan-susceptible tuberculosis (18/310) to 39% in patients with pre-XDR/XDR tuberculosis (9/23). The adjusted odds ratio for mortality was 4.92 (95% CI 2.47-9.78) among under-treated patients, compared to appropriately treated cases. Interpretation: In seven high-burden tuberculosis countries, we observed discrepancies between drug resistance patterns obtained locally and WGS. The under-diagnosis of drug resistances resulted in inappropriate treatment and higher mortality. WGS can provide accurate and detailed drug resistance information required to improve the outcomes of drug-resistant tuberculosis in high-burden settings. Our results support the WHO's call for point-of- care tests based on WGS

Self-Identification of Victimization of Labor Trafficking

Although labor exploitation has been criminalized as human trafficking, also known as labor trafficking, forced labor, or modern slavery, globally, many cases remain undetected. In part, this underreporting is arguably due to low levels of self-identification of victimization of labor trafficking. Low self-identification suggests that a discrepancy exists between legal definitions of labor trafficking victimhood and the lived experiences of work and employment by what are often labor migrants. This contribution discusses scholarly literature that identifies factors that obstruct self-identification among those subjected to labor exploitation. Also, a study is discussed that analyzed how some victims do arrive at self-identification. This contribution finds that labor trafficking often refers to situations in which migrants have consciously left their country of origin in search of work. Their work conditions may be valued as a temporary arrangement to achieve upward  social mobility and considered from their home country’s work and income standards. Therefore, such migrants may perceive themselves as active agents of their destiny who make their own decisions in engaging in certain working conditions and not as passive victims of exploitation. Finally, two trajectories through which victims of labor exploitation do arrive at self-identification are discussed. On the first path, the victim gradually comes to self-identification. On the second path, a radical event in the personal life of victims triggers them to become aware of their victimhood. The insights provided in this chapter are valuable for the future combat of labor trafficking, in which victim self-identification plays an important role.NWO451-15-025Criminal Justice: Legitimacy, accountability, and effectivit

Exploiting for Care: Trafficking and Abuse in Domestic Work in Italy

Care workers are now an essential part of reality for many Italian families. Yet, despite advancements in regulating domestic work, abuses are widespread. This article explores why exploitation in domestic work is rarely viewed as such and addressed with policies concerning trafficking and exploitation. I look at the way in which the care issue has been addressed by the Italian state and at the peculiar relationship between employers and domestic workers. Furthermore, I focus on the gaps in policies on trafficking and exploitation. I argue that the interplay of these factors results in the “normalization” of exploitation in domestic work