Forced labour – well-hidden mechanisms of dependence and enslavement

Abstract

Forced labour is a social phenomenon which is difficult to comprehend and accept due to its exceptional nature. The existing legal definition is not very helpful. This article reflects on a different approach to understanding forced labour and a different operational definition of the phenomenon. The starting point is to look at forced labour from the perspective of social pragmatism and symbolic interactionism by referring to the humanistic coefficient, a concept developed one hundred years ago. Using the experience of Poland in unsuccessful attempts to deal with forced labour, but also referring to global experiences in that field, this article attempts to define the phenomenon in the context of work in general. The key question that arises here is this that if work is a noble and socially visible phenomenon, how is it then that forced labour is almost completely invisible, not only to people, but also to law enforcement? It is suggested in this text that forced labour, burdened with a strong social taboo, is hidden behind a facade of the nobility of labour. At the end of the article, there is a proposal for a new analytical scheme with which the phenomenon can be described in a completely different language than that of criminal justice.