There are 2 types of slavery according to Kevin Bales. The term “old slavery” is used to identify slavery that was based primarily on ownership with relation to the divisions along ethnic groups. The “new” slavery on the other hand tries to define slavery that is not based on legal ownership but on other factors like debts and contracts.
Slavery is common in Asia just like in any other part of the world such as the European Countries and the Americas. Pakistan, an allegedly poor country was included in his book, the disposable people, and one major issue was mentioned in Bales’ particular case study. This issue has something to do with the brick-makers that were held in a continuous debt.
Modern-Day Slavery in Pakistan
One of the primary reasons why slavery became so famous has something to do with profits. People were treated as commodities that could be sold and traded. According to some reports, masters sometimes cannot even consider giving their slaves the chance to get or buy their freedom. This is a common situation in Pakistan and there are more practices that could be considered inhumane in this country that was once influenced by slavery.
We all know that ending slavery will be a very difficult task, especially now that a lot of people have discovered that they can satisfy their profit-seeking desires by recruiting slaves through indentured servitude and debt-bonding methods.
A random individual cannot just be turned into a slave. He has to owe something to someone first and if the debtor appears to be unable to pay his debts, the creditor may negotiate with his debtor about paying the debts by means of labor. This practice was very rampant in Pakistan, and even now, a significant number of slaves are still believed to be present in the said country. This is hard and real evidence about how interweaved slavery is with our culture. It is something that had been present since the oldest times, no wonder it’s no easy task to fully abolish it, despite the fast changing priority that a lot of countries place for human rights.
Before, slaves (brick-makers) that had been enslaved for so many years by their masters tried to earn their freedom through slightly violent means; they revolted. Unfortunately for them, the result of the revolution did not turn out to be on their side, which made them go back to their old conditions. Shortly after a couple of revolutions triggered by slavery occurred in other places, not only in Pakistan, International Anti-Slavery Organizations began to take the stage and help slaves from different countries handle their problems with slavery in a more effective and perhaps, legal way.
Slavery in Pakistan now is not as rampant as it was before. This could be definitely considered as a good thing because this indicates that people are already being enlightened about the negative implications and the kind of unjust environment that results from slavery.
Implications
It is evident that the author, Kevin Bale’s arguments gave birth to even more opponents of slavery and in time, gathered enough support to be able to fully eradicate slavery, at least up to a level seen by the naked eye.
References
Bales, K. DISPOSABLE PEOPLE: NEW SLAVERY IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY.
California: University of California Press, 1999. Print.
