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The Anti-Slavery Project: From the Slave Trade to Human Trafficking
Abstract
Historian and human rights scholar Joel Quirk examines the evolution of political opposition to slavery from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day. He offers an original diagnosis of the underlying causes driving one of the most pressing human rights problems in the world today.
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“Yet, despite the apparent universality of enslavement through time, different forms of exploitation have manifested in different contexts at different times (see Patterson 1982; Quirk 2011).”
From Collapsing the Boundaries Between De Jure and De Facto Slavery: The Foundations of Slavery Beyond the Transatlantic Frame (2020) · cites this paper as Quirk 2011
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The Modern-Day White (Wo)Man’s Burden: Trends in Anti-Trafficking and Anti-Slavery Campaigns
Kempadoo, K. (2015) · Journal of Human Trafficking · doi:10.1080/23322705.2015.1006120 · Cited by 200
Adler, E. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108325615 · Cited by 171
Cockbain, E., & BOWERS, K. J. (2019) · Crime Law and Social Change · doi:10.1007/s10611-019-09836-7 · Cited by 103
Substance, Scale, and Salience: The Recent Historiography of Human Rights
Moyn, S. (2012) · Annual Review of Law and Social Science · doi:10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-102811-173847 · Cited by 93
Volodko, A., Cockbain, E., & Kleinberg, B. (2019) · Trends in Organized Crime · doi:10.1007/s12117-019-09376-5 · Cited by 62
De-canting ‘Trafficking in Human Beings’, Re-centring the State
Davidson, J. O. (2016) · The International Spectator · doi:10.1080/03932729.2016.1121685 · Cited by 54
Gabriela Gutierrez-Huerter, O., Gold, S., & Trautrims, A. (2021) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-021-05013-w · Cited by 50
Modern Slavery in Projects: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda
Alzoubi, Y., Locatelli, G., & Sainati, T. (2023) · Project Management Journal · doi:10.1177/87569728221148158 · Cited by 43
“…and researchers argue that the term does not adequately describe the situation of severe labor exploitation with no clear consensus on which practices or kinds of people would be included under the term (Allain, 2012; Quirk, 2011; Gutierrez-Huerter O et al., 2021; Liu et al., 2022; LeBaron, 2018).”
BackgroundSlavery and Labour Contracts: Rethinking Their Nexus
Bosma, U. (2018) · International Review of Social History · doi:10.1017/s0020859018000512 · Cited by 33
Granizo, S. L., Caraguay, Á. L. V., López, L. I. B., et al. (2020) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2020.2976530 · Cited by 32
“Figure 1 shows the whole process from the tweet searching related to human traffic [17] or slavery [21] of people; download and processing of this information [18], [22]; until the extraction of characteristics and their classification.”
BackgroundAlways Victimizers, Never Victims: Engaging Men and Boys in Human Trafficking Scholarship
Hebert, L. A. (2016) · Journal of Human Trafficking · doi:10.1080/23322705.2016.1144165 · Cited by 34
“…by foreign men generated a frenzy of media activity and gave rise to the first anti-trafficking campaign (Rodríguez Garcia, 2012, p. 98), though many presumed victims chose to migrate abroad with full knowledge they would be engaging in paid sexual labor (Doezema, 2000; Quirk, 2011, pp. 222–223).”
BackgroundCalvão, F. (2016) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-102215-100307 · Cited by 33
Ollus, N. (2015) · Crime Law and Social Change · doi:10.1007/s10611-015-9566-6 · Cited by 24
“Victims of trafficking may therefore be excluded from the position of Bideal^ victims in a traditional criminological sense (see [9]; also [52, 66, 68], 238–239).”
BackgroundInfluentialFrom Rescue to Representation: A Human Rights Approach to the Contemporary Antislavery Movement
Choi-Fitzpatrick, A. D. (2015) · Journal of Human Rights · doi:10.1080/14754835.2015.1032222 · Cited by 25
“Open the Gates Mek We Repatriate”: Caribbean slavery, constructivism, and hermeneutic tensions
Shilliam, R. (2014) · International Theory · doi:10.1017/s1752971914000165 · Cited by 23
Abolition, Law, and the Osu Marriage Novel
Osinubi, T. A. (2014) · The Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Inquiry · doi:10.1017/pli.2014.24 · Cited by 21
Detection of Possible Human Trafficking in Twitter
Hernández-Álvarez, M. (2019) · International Conference on Information Systems and Software Technologies (ICI2ST) · doi:10.1109/ici2st.2019.00034 · Cited by 21
“It is important to note that with these definitions, “any minor, including a U.S. citizen, under the age of 18 who is used in a commercial sex act is a trafficking victim” [7].”
BackgroundThe global development of contemporary anti-human trafficking advocacy
Limoncelli, S. A. (2017) · International Sociology · doi:10.1177/0268580917729986 · Cited by 21
Social service responses to human trafficking: the making of a public health problem
Shalit, A. D., van der Meulen, E., & Guţă, A. (2020) · Culture Health & Sexuality · doi:10.1080/13691058.2020.1802670 · Cited by 23
“This approach has been successful in silencing everyday practices of exploitation and abuse that are embedded in and normalised by overarching socioeconomic and political systems (Quirk 2011).”
BackgroundMethodInnovations in empirical research into human trafficking: introduction to the special edition
Cockbain, E., & Kleemans, E. R. (2019) · Crime Law and Social Change · doi:10.1007/s10611-019-09852-7 · Cited by 18
Slavery and the Revival of Anti-slavery Activism
Brace, L., & Davidson, J. O. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90623-2_1 · Cited by 19
The New Abolitionism, International Law, and the Memory of Slavery
Gross, A. J., & Thomas, C. (2016) · Law and History Review · doi:10.1017/s0738248016000651 · Cited by 10
Lazzarino, R., Wright, N., & Jordan, M. (2022) · Journal of Human Trafficking · doi:10.1080/23322705.2021.2024043 · Cited by 12
“Whilst modern slavery has no legal basis within international provisions, and it is a term that is gaining increasing prominence within the academic, policy, and public discourse, not without criticism of its rhetorical appeal (Bravo, 2019; Quirk, 2011).”
BackgroundHuzzey, R. (2012) · The Journal of Imperial & Commonwealth History · doi:10.1080/03086534.2012.730835 · Cited by 10
To seek and save the lost: human trafficking and salvation schemas among American evangelicals
Choi-Fitzpatrick, A. D. (2014) · European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology · doi:10.1080/23254823.2014.924421 · Cited by 10
“This is surprising, considering the fact that slavery and abolition have captured evangelical energy intermittently since the late eighteenth century (Quirk, 2011).”
BackgroundUnderstanding and Evaluating UK Efforts to Tackle Forced Labour
Balch, A. (2015) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781137460417_7 · Cited by 9
Landau, L. B. (2025) · Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies · doi:10.1080/1369183x.2025.2461351 · Cited by 8
“Its goal is not about extin-guishing human trafficking and exploitation – itself potentially problematic (see, for example, Quirk 2011; Walker, Oliveira, and Magaya 2020) – but to suppress migrant smuggling .”
Schwarz, K., & Nicholson, A. (2020) · Human Rights Review · doi:10.1007/s12142-020-00604-y · Cited by 8
Blackface Abolition and the New Slave Narrative
Murphy, L. T. (2014) · The Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Inquiry · doi:10.1017/pli.2014.32 · Cited by 6
Balch, A., Cody, A. M., Okech, D., et al. (2024) · Global Policy · doi:10.1111/1758-5899.13322 · Cited by 5
Future Directions in African Crime and Criminal Justice History
Hynd, S. (2017) · Crime Histoire et Sociétés · doi:10.4000/chs.1888 · Cited by 5
Same-same or different? Nordic policy responses to the exploitation of migrant workers
Spanger, M., Ollus, N., Schoultz, I., et al. (2024) · Nordic Journal of Criminology · doi:10.18261/njc.25.2.1 · Cited by 5
Introduction: When Is a Child a Slave?
Duane, A. M. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316412312.001 · Cited by 5
Diptée, A. A. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316412312.012 · Cited by 5
‘Savages in the midst’: revolutionary Haiti in international society (1791–1838)
Cantir, C. (2015) · Journal of International Relations and Development · doi:10.1057/jird.2015.7 · Cited by 4
Wilkins, D. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-63058-8_1 · Cited by 5
The long shadow of history: The paradoxes of iconographic reiteration in anti-slavery advocacy
Kurasawa, F. (2014) · American Journal of Cultural Sociology · doi:10.1057/ajcs.2013.14 · Cited by 3
Global Sociopolitical Transformations of the Nineteenth Century
Zinkina, J., Christian, D., Grinin, L. E., et al. (2019) · World-systems evolution and global futures · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-05707-7_9 · Cited by 3
Eliot, L. B. H. (2018) · Atlantic Studies · doi:10.1080/14788810.2018.1494951 · Cited by 3
Gready, P. (2024) · Social & Legal Studies · doi:10.1177/09646639241287753 · Cited by 2
“Quirk (2011) argues that the anti-slavery movement in Britain was founded not on the idea of equality between races and nationalities, but rather on a conception of British identity grounded in ‘ devotion to individual liberty, the exceptional character of their political institutions, and the…”
Wilkins, D. B. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-63192-9_1-1 · Cited by 2
Slavery and Sustainable Development
Khan, T. (2019) · Encyclopedia of the UN sustainable development goals · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71062-4_70-1 · Cited by 2
Antislavery, elite men, and the “voice of the British nation:” c.1790–1860
Morecroft, E. (2017) · History Compass · doi:10.1111/hic3.12374 · Cited by 1
Contested geographies of trafficking borders
Bhagat, A., & Yea, S. (2025) · Environment and Planning C Politics and Space · doi:10.1177/23996544251331489 · Cited by 1
“…and Richardson, 2020; McGrath and Watson, 2018; Yea, 2020), critical anti-traf fi cking literature (Kempadoo et al., 2012; O ’ Connell Davidson, 2015; Quirk, 2011), critical border studies (Brambilla, 2014; Parker and Vaughan-Williams, 2012; Salter, 2012), and empirical insights from…”
Cross-Border Labor Mobility: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings
Dowlah, C. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-36506-6_11 · Cited by 1
A Legal Appraisal on Human Trafficking at Sea
Eboli, V. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-82163-0_5 · Cited by 1
Beutin, L. P. (2022) · Feminist Media Studies · doi:10.1080/14680777.2022.2149592 · Cited by 1
“…cause to bolster a sense of white male morality, to create opportunities for white women’s engagement in the public sphere for their own advancement (Zaeske 2002[2010]), and to generate benevolent cover to intervene in Black independent states in Africa (A. Getachew 2019; see also J. Quirk 2011).”
BackgroundMining in Sicily: Slavery, Humanitarian Rhetoric and Global Network
Alù, G. (2023) · Cultural and Social History · doi:10.1080/14780038.2023.2273583 · Cited by 1
Gürsel, B. (2024) · New Perspectives on Turkey · doi:10.1017/npt.2023.35 · Cited by 1
“According to Joel Quirk (2011), the global abolitionist project resulted not from the age-old, worldwide practices of slavery but from the unprecedented scope of the suffering inflicted by the Atlantic 6 At the time of writing, my list of such writers includes Ziya Pa ¸ sa, Emin Nihat, Nam ı k…”
BackgroundInfluentialAnti‐slavery, refugee relief, and the missionary origins of humanitarian photography ca. 1900–1960
Grant, K. (2017) · History Compass · doi:10.1111/hic3.12383 · Cited by 1
Practices, Background Knowledge, Communities of Practice, Social Orders
Adler, E. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108325615.005 · Cited by 1
Competing Narratives in the Nexus of Migration-Crime-Gender
Angelis, M. D. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-47236-8_12 · Cited by 1
Adler, E. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108325615.012 · Cited by 1
McGrath, S. (2017) · International Encyclopedia of Geography · doi:10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0703 · Cited by 1
Slavery and Sustainable Development
Khan, T. (2020) · Encyclopedia of the UN sustainable development goals · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-95726-5_70 · Cited by 1
The Child as a Pivot Point between Consent and Complicity
Duane, A. M. (2017) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781316412312.009
That Which Is Unseen I: Slavery’s Pollution
Wright, R. E. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48968-1_6
Wright, R. E. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48968-1_2
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Wright, R. E. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48968-1_1
That Which Is Seen: Enslavers’ Profits
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Contemporary Approaches to Human Trafficking
Lobasz, J. K. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-91737-5_2
Explaining Tolerance of Violence
Ravlik, M. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-33204-4_7
Slavery in the New World: The Saga of Black Africans
Dowlah, C. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-36506-6_5
Cross-Border Labor Mobility: The Twenty First Century
Dowlah, C. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-36506-6_10
Slavery During Ancient and Medieval Periods
Dowlah, C. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-36506-6_3
Indentured Servitude: The Saga of the Indians and the Chinese
Dowlah, C. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-36506-6_6
A Rhetorical Continuum? How Representations of Antebellum Slavery Endure in Post-War Culture
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Global Contexts: How External Factors Drive US Perceptions of Slavery
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Resistance and the Slavery Counter-Narrative
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Samurai Crabs and International Social Orders
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Adler, E. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108325615.011
Going global: British abolitionists and the campaign to export anti-slavery
Timmerman, M. N. (2022) · International Politics · doi:10.1057/s41311-021-00369-2
(2014) · Emerald Group Publishing Limited eBooks · doi:10.1108/s1537-466120140000017009
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(2019) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9781478003281-001
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Metadata
- Authors
- Quirk, J.
- Corresponding author
- Quirk, Joel
- ORCID
- Quirk, Joel
- Venue
- University of Pennsylvania Press eBooks
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania Press
- Published
- 2011-12-31
- OpenAlex
- W2251246529
- Cited by
- 130
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 4.80
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- University of Pennsylvania Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Colonialism, slavery, and trade
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Influence
- Keywords
- abolitionism, human rights, slavery, eighteenth century to present
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