Ending Slavery: How We Free Today's Slaves

by Kevin Bales

Book Overview

In his 1999 book, Disposable People, Kevin Bales brought to light the shocking fact of modern slavery and described how, nearly two hundred years after the slave trade was abolished (legal slavery... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520254708
• ISBN13: 9780520254701
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A call for action

This book is a poignant call for action. Most Americans have no idea where the products they purchase come from or at least who is making the products. Kevin Bales delivers a current status on enslavement. Slavery may have officially stopped in the United States with the Emancipation Proclamation. In search of cheap labor, companies went abroad. Some of the personal stories were so sad that I really cried, out of sadness for the people for their painful and ruined lives and wondering how much I as an American consumer had contributed to their misery. Bales offers a solution which begins with Americans recognizing the problem and the lobbying for change. Americans can impact this problem directly by not buying slave-produced products and campaigning against it through Congress. This is not a light read.

The history of slavery

Ending slavery, This is a very interesting read. Bales talks about slavery today through the eyes of recent slaves. There are so many amazing horrific and sad stories. You read about slavery in history class and how it ended in 1865. There is slavery even today in the United States. Bales talks about how potential slaves are tricked into slavery with the promise of education and a better life and education only to be enslaved without pay, they are taken from their families never to be seen again, moved continents away from their families. Once in the United States they are mistreated, they are beaten into submission. Society takes advantage of the impoverished people who don't necessarily understand the true intentions of those attempting to enslave them. Bales talks about slavery through out the ages, their treatment, how they are bought, sold and discarded. Stopping the subculture and trade mechanism that supports and even thrives off the the slavery market. Bales covers the social and economic impact for buying and selling slaves through out time and how it has changed. There many interesting common denominators that have remained consistent throught time. Bales talks about the problem of ending slavery on a global basis and how to do it. His ideas seem plausible and credible. Ending slavery would be a difficult task because the issues crosses many physical borders, social and economic barriers. Slavery has to end. This was a very interesting and eye opening read for me. I highly recommend this book. In many ways it opened my consciousness about this problem.

Ending Slavery

Kevin Bales is a recognized world authority on the generally hidden phenomenon of modern slavery; he best known for Disposable People (1999), a standard and influential text in classrooms and with policy makers. Ending Slavery (2007) is his latest book which reveals updated information and additional heartbreaking stories, balanced by optimistic practical solutions for the audacious goal of ending slavery around the world. Either one of these books would be an excellent place to start learning about modern slavery for the average reader. While slavery can be a depressing subject, Ending Slavery is ultimately uplifting because of its success stories, of solutions working, of the world becoming a better place and ways to keep the momentum going. By the end of the book there is a practical plan of what to do next for everyone from the concerned citizen, community leader, governments and NGO. Modern slavery is largely hidden from view because, unlike in the 19th century and earlier, slavery today is illegal everywhere and- like drugs- the problem has gone underground. There are an estimated 27 million slaves in the world today - by comparison in the entire 350 year history of the African slave trade, about 13 million slaves were brought to the New World. When talking about modern slavery this comparison to the African slave trade is often made, and for good reason, our culture is saturated with the history of slavery from the movie "Roots", the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or Civil War history. If this cultural outrage of history were channeled to help modern slaves alive and toiling away today, imagine the good, but it starts with awareness. Most people don't know the basics of modern slavery: What is a modern slave? Where are they? What do they do? What can we do about it? This book answers those questions. As the cover-picture of the book suggests, a happy discovery awaits within. After slavery comes freedom. New found freedom is one of the most rewarding experiences imaginable, both for slaves and those who help free them. It is no accident Lincoln, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu and others are among the most revered and popular leaders; or that the first and oldest human rights organization in the world is an anti-slave group (which still exists in England, connected to Kevin Bales). The struggle for freedom is far from over, and its happening everywhere from the suburbs of Washington DC to the cocoa (chocolate) plantations of Africa. Take the time to learn how slavery impacts us all, and what to do about it. There are a number of free films online that tie into the book. In particular _Slavery: A Global Investigation _and _Dreams Die Hard_ detail some of the same people and stories in the book, including interviews with Bales.

A Helpful, Smart, Practical Approach

As an author who has also written about slavery, I can say that Bales' many years' experience with the subject are apparent on every page. Avoiding sensationalism or unhelpful despair, Ending Slavery is an expert and pragmatic guide for all of us, rich and poor, interested in advancing the cause of human rights and general happiness. We do not address problems of global poverty and slavery with our sympathy or pity. Bales' ability to articulate concrete, positive steps is invaluable. This book goes far beyond its issue. By addressing the tangible, achieveable mechanisms by which we address the roots and causes of slavery, Bales also manages to shine a light toward ways we can help smooth the iniquities and anti-democratic tendencies resulting from the current mania for "globalization." Ending Slavery is not luxury reading, a do-gooder tome for those of us with the leisure to care about poor foreigners in unimaginable situations. It's a technical manual for how we in the First World can save ourselves. As Bales has previously written (I hope I get this quote right), "slave labor anywhere threatens free labor everywhere." Slavery in a globalized world is not only wrong, but dangerous.