• DOI:10.1146/ANNUREV-SOC-073014-112506
• Corpus ID: 145162813

Human trafficking and contemporary slavery

@article{Weitzer2015HumanTA,
  title={Human trafficking and contemporary slavery},
  author={Ronald Weitzer},
  journal={Review of Sociology},
  year={2015},
  volume={41},
  pages={223-242}
}

• Ronald Weitzer
• Published 17 August 2015
• Sociology
• Review of Sociology

The article begins with a discussion of definitional issues regarding human trafficking and modern slavery and then briefly critiques some popular claims regarding each problem. Examples of macro-level research are critically evaluated, followed by a review of micro-level studies that illustrate tremendous variation and complexity in structural arrangements and individuals’ lived experiences. These studies suggest that in this field micro-level research has at least three advantages over grand, macro-level meta-analyses—advantages that are quantitative (i.e., estimating the magnitude of the problem within a measurable universe), qualitative (i.e., documenting complexities in lived experiences), and well suited to formulating contextually appropriate policy and enforcement responses.