Ending the 'Slavocracy'
- ANTHONY B. BRADLEY
Slavery is alive and well today. Recent estimates put the number of people in bondage at 27 million worldwide. The abolition of modern-day slavery is an urgent matter; in the words of Pope John Paul II, slavery constitutes a shocking offence against human dignity and a grave violation of fundamental human rights.
The
Times of India reports that in Bihar state alone there are around 8,300
bonded laborers, including children. Bonded labor is the most widespread form
of slavery in India. And because of that, the economic dimension should not be
overlooked as part of a long-term strategy for permanently eradicating the demand
for slaves.
A person becomes a bonded laborer often as a means of paying
off a loan. Kevin Bales, in Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy,
explains that debts arise from two main sources: (1) an urgent crisis such as
illness, injury, or famine, or (2) the need to pay for death rites or marriage
celebrations. To pay for such expenses in a climate of abject poverty, the poor
resort to borrowing money from local moneylenders or landowners who demand the
only collateral available: the labor of their families or children.
Human
Rights Watch tells of a boy, Ramesh, 13, who was sold into bondage in 1993 for
about 2,500 India rupees (US $55), so that his parents could get an advance to
purchase a house. Until recently, he worked six and a half days a week, from 7:00
am to 9:00 PM, rolling, by hand, about 1500 cigarettes. If he rolled fewer than
his quota, he was beaten.
In 2001, International Justice Mission (IJM), an
advocacy group that brings oppressors such as Rameshs employer to justice and
mobilizes intervention for victims, rescued a boy named Sridhar. Sridhar had been
sold into slavery at the age of ten, for about 1,500 Indian rupees (US $33), so
that his family could buy necessities to live. To pay back the debt, the moneylender
sent Sridhar to make cigarettes under horrible conditions. In many cases, however,
the debts can never be repaid, because workers are intentionally underpaid, charged
extra fees, or indebted further by their borrowing more money to purchase medical
supplies or meet other needs.
In January of 2002, IJM discovered a rock
quarry in India where entire families were slave laborers. These families, including
children, were regularly forced to break rocks with hammers for ten to twelve
hours per day in order to pay back small loans and other debts. This type of slavery,
nearly 1,500 years old in India, still exists, even though debt bondage was outlawed
there officially in 1976 under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act.
Gary Haugen, the president of IJM, who was recently profiled in Forbes Magazine,
has outlined his groups unique tactic using the rule of law to remove
the economic incentives for slavery. IJM raises the slave owners cost of doing
business by working with local authorities to gather evidence of abuse and take
that evidence to prosecutors. The conviction of a few perpetrators, who end up
facing incarceration or harsh fines, sends a strong message that this practice
is not worth the trouble, legally or economically.
The economic
environment of India is also relevant to the cause of eliminating slavery. Confronted
with few options, many freed families find themselves back in slavery, trying
to pay off new debts. Part of the solution, then, is increasing the number of
adequately-paying jobs, making desperate borrowing unnecessary. This will come
as a culture of entrepreneurship expands. In addition to relief work and aid,
India needs an entrepreneurial revolution.
Bales describes the twofold
threat that the growing middle class thanks in part to the prosperity
fostered by American businesses moving to India poses to the current
slavocracy. First, Indias middle-class workers, the beneficiaries of the countrys
new industries and services, are buying up farmland as it becomes available. Indias
middle-class landowners are more likely to use modern farming techniques to increase
production and lower labor costs, reducing the demand for slaves. The more Indian
agriculture is mechanized, the less profit the landlords will make from the use
of an outmoded system like bonded labor. The dream of peasant farmers everywhere
in India is a mechanized future. A farm with slaves simply cannot compete with
a mechanized one.
Second, the Indian middle class is gaining political
power that threatens the corrupt relationship between the government and slave-wielding
landowners. The middle class has already initiated a crackdown on official corruption
and promoted increased voter registration among lower castes and tribal groups.
The middle class is simply pulling the rug out from under slave oppressors and
corrupt government officials by owning more property and politically empowering
those at the bottom of Indias caste system.
While organizations such
as IJM do the initial work of providing liberty for slaves, the next step is to
provide an economic environment that discourages a return to the practice of slavery.
This naturally includes a strong rule of law, economic development, and a shifting
of power from large landowners to average Indian citizens.
As such, the
news that many U.S. firms are moving to India carries with it the promise of an
unintended consequence: contributing to the ending of slavery in that country.
The continued prosecution of slave masters and the proliferation of business allow
more families to take care of their own needs and provide a context for political
equality both important factors in the production of lasting freedom.
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Acknowledgement
Anthony B. Bradley. "Ending the 'Slavocracy'." Acton Institute (March 17, 2004).
Reprinted with permission of the Acton Institute.
The Author
Anthony B. Bradley is a research fellow at the Acton Institute.
Copyright © 2004 Acton Institute