Seventeenth Century Problems in the 21st Century: An In-depth Look at Modern Slavery through the through the Work of Fiction “Zanzibar Chest” by Aidan Hartley
Abstract
The research would aim to delve into the intricacies of modern slavery that victimizes innumerable people from various corners of the globe. This is a qualitative study that goes on to explicate some statistical data as well for the purpose of substantiation of the claim. Indeed, an element of quantitative study would dig deeper into the work of fiction by Aidan Hartley. This author’s work, the Zanzibar’s Chest is a reminiscence of the tragic ordeal experienced by some of his family members in the hands of the colonialists. The self-imperialism and the critical sufferance experienced by African’s are brought into perspective in this book. The paper draws references from the existing academic research work regarding the matter in context. Apart from this, the fictional works that relate to the topic of research are also explicated so as to gauge the amount of tragic consequences that the victims of modern slavery are subjected to. The plight and ignominy that the victims of modern slavery face is brought to light in the course of the research. An interview of a victim goes on to substantiate the claims made in the course of the research work. The possible solutions to this social evil are explicated in the course of the paper so as to initiate action on the part of the people of the society.
Introduction
It has to be reckoned that the world population has always seen disparity among humans from the past times in history. The societal structure has, in fact, facilitated or made way for the disparity among people. Over the ages in history, many people in the world society have become prone to systematic violence that found a vehement expression in the form of slavery. Now, there cannot be any doubt about the fact that slavery is one of the most abominable social evils that shrouded the world in the past. Slavery is something that denies the individual of his or her basic right to freedom and even strips the individual off his or her respect, dignity and status of equality.
The world has seen innumerable instances of slavery that encompassed harsh acts of inhumanity or brutality. As one can comprehend, literature has worked as the best mirror of the society in the past years. Authors have delved into the social ill of slavery and have exposed it in their writings. Although there is a general view that slavery has got abolished and is no more in practice in the modern society, the truth is different that this perspective. The written word is a powerful tool; it can start a movement, overthrow a government, and even shed light upon a hidden travesty that was still happening in the 20th Century. Recent novels have revealed a horrific truth. Human rights were being threatened exponentially due to modern slavery.
Literature Review
The women and the children are the major victims of the social ill of human trafficking. In a society that is highly patriarchal in its practices and norms, it is understandable that the women folk would be on the receiving end of the matter. Children also come across to be easy targets who fail to put up a good resistance to the people who are involved in the trafficking. One has to understand that there is a gap of information that goes on to impede the “outlining of a complete picture of trafficking in persons and hence, it negatively influences the policies adopted to prevent it, to fight against the traffickers and to protect the victims.” (Scarpa, 2008) Nonetheless, there is the UN Protocol that aims to prevent, punish and suppress trafficking in persons (mainly women and children).
There seems to be no immediate solution to this social issue, but firm steps need to be taken so as to curb this occurrence that would highly contribute to the degeneration of the world society in the present era. In context of the occurrence, it needs to be noted that the nation state are obligated owing to the international human rights, criminal, and labor law to provide protection to the hapless victims of human trafficking. Apart from the obligation of the nation states, organizations like the European Union and the Council of Europe are highly committed toward fighting human trafficking. However, a lot more has to be done so as to eradicate this social evil that brings misery and haplessness in the lives of innumerable people of the world society.
“That slavery still exists might may surprise some readers, but the practice of violently coerced labor continues to thrive in every corner of the globe. There were 28.4 million slaves in the world at the end of 2006.” (Kara, 2009) Now, it needs to be reckoned that the problem of slavery is more common in the African and Asian regions of the world. While regions like Europe and the United States of America are very much strict in their regulations and implementation of law, there seems to be some shortcoming in the case of countries like India where modern slavery can be zeroed in on quite easily. India has a huge number of child slaves who get stolen from their mothers at a very tender age.
These children are made to work as many as sixteen hours in a day in the tea harvests. Apart from this, one should also take a note of the bonded labors in Latin America, Africa and South Asia who have to work as slaves in return for debts that cannot be paid back ever with their amount of labor. In countries like Ethiopia and Kenya, the slaves harvest the coffee. (Kara, 2009) Thus, it can be understood that the modern day slaves are subjected to immense exploitation and they are simply treated as animals stripping them off their humanity. The people who are involved in running the systematic slavery system in the present times have surely given up their human morality, human values and conscience.
It has to be reckoned that modern slavery is different from historical slavery in a number of ways. At present, there are more slaves than the past times, but there is no strong united defense for the right of the slaves. Since slavery as a practice has been made illegal all over the globe, it needs criminality and corruption to makes people work as modern slaves. Now, it needs to be noted that the power of any slave power is surely subject to the power of the nation state. Hence, modern slavery with all its societal evil can continue to exist in the world if the governments let it to be there. (BBC, n.d.)
The corrupt nature of the government of any state is sure to enhance the chances of modern slavery. In the present times, the slaves have become cheaper than ever before, and they can also generate very high economic returns. Apart from human trafficking and child labor, marital and sexual slavery is also one of the major concerns of the world society. The sexual exploitation of individuals through the application of force or harm cannot be tolerated in any way. Also, the sale, transfer or inheritance of women has to be stopped in every corner of the world society. (Nagy, 2010)
Apart from the documental proof and academic work that is present regarding the issue of modern slavery, one can also delve into the works of fiction that vehemently portray the social evil through the content so as to bring out a scathing critique of the matter and also call for immediate action against modern slavery. One can take into reckoning The Zanzibar Chest: A Memoir of Love and War by Aidan Hartley that goes on to explore the grave societal issue with all its intricacy. The narrative goes on to portray the disaster zones of Africa that went on to lure outsiders like journalists and aid workers who wanted to escape the family tragedy or shattered relationships.
There is an account that goes on to explicate how his own family went on to be uprooted from one of the countries in Africa to the other. In fact, his father finally sent his children and wife to England only to be away from them for years at a stretch. At a juncture of life, Hartley’s father took this Ethiopian lover and brought up a son with her, while he dismissed the author and his brother to be “useless.” The story of the author’s life goes on to portray the harsh circumstances that could work to push a child or a woman toward falling prey in the clutches of modern slavery. It needs to be noted that modern slavery targets those people who are vulnerable and lack the financial as well as familial support. Now, in a society that is highly patriarchal, one can only imagine the turmoil and vulnerability of any individual if he or she is faced with such a scenario as the family of the author. The plight and struggle of the author’s family can be taken to be the microcosm of the struggle of the families that are prone to modern slavery in the present times in the world society. (Hartley, 2004)
One can also take into account Conor Grennan’s book, Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal, so as to understand the plight of the victims of modern slavery. This is a story in the life of the author that goes on to portray the tragic life of children who were trafficked in Nepal. The book explicates how the child traffickers went on to promise the poor families in the remotes rural areas to provide for the protection of the children from the civil war. Thus, these people involved would actually take a considerable fee from the parents of the children, but would not keep their promise. The children were abandoned far from their home and left in the chaotic situation of Kathmandu, the capital city of the country of Nepal. The story shows the immorality and lack of conscience associated with such an act. One can only envisage the condition of the kids left on their own in a milieu so unknown to them. Conor finally took up the mission to reunite the children with their families despite the hostile situation in Nepal. (Grennan, 2011)
An interview was conducted on a woman named Sabina Sardar, a victim of sex trafficking. She was misguided by her uncle who took her from the home village in Bangladesh, crossed the international border with Indian illegally and sold her to the red-light area in Kolkata, known as Sonagachi. She is now out of the place as one of the members of a local NGO decided to marry her. She was sold when she was 12 years of age. She is now 23 years old, and lives with her husband in their house in north Kolkata. However, on being interviewed over the internet, she was too perturbed to recall the horrific memories. She said that she would be forced to sexual acts by the pimp and would be paid as less as 50 rupees for every visitor. She would be given poor food and even got afflicted by STD a few times as the visitors hardly oblige to use protection during any sexual act. She truly considers herself lucky to have been saved by a good man. But, she adds that thousands more like her perish in the dark alleys of the city.
The research shows how the social evil of slavery has transformed its nature even after being universally illegalized. Modern slavery and its explication show the haplessness of so many people who are caught up in the vicious circle. The research calls for strong action to help the people who are affected by this impediment. These people need to be saved and rehabilitated by the responsible people of the world society, the governments and the international bodies so as to reach a stage where such inhuman and immoral practices are erased from the world once and for all.
Research questions
Research questions act as a thread to the research objectives, and they intend to give a reasoning to the core precept to an essay. The following research questions shall offer guidelines in the dissertation, and a solution to these questions will steer towards the mainstream objectives of the essay:
What is the perspective of modern slavery compared to the traditional form of slavery?
How does slavery manifest in the book “Zanzibar Chest” by Aidan Hartley?
What are the impacts of modern slavery in the society?
What are some fundamental principles that could be applied to uproot modern slavery in the society?
Research Methodology
This particular research would be conducted through gauging the statistical data available in relation to the matter. Also, the qualitative approach would be followed by delving into the fictional works and interview of a victim of modern slavery. The fictional work “Zanzibar Chest” by Aidan Hartley shall form the mainstream focus for evaluating the rationale of modern slavery against traditional slavery.
Limitations of Study
Although slavery went on to be abolished legally years back, in the present era, more subtle forms of modern slavery have come to haunt the world society. One of the most alarming phenomena of the 20th century and the 21st century has been the issue of human trafficking. Now, it has to be understood that human trafficking is related to a number of socio-economic causes. The people who are most prone to the societal evil of human trafficking come from abject poverty in most of the cases. As such, the victims of human trafficking are found to come mostly from the underdeveloped or less developed countries of the world. In a time when even child labor is a criminal offense, the international arena is finding it to be highly challenging to combat the nexus that is functional in human trafficking. However, definite data regarding the issue is an impediment in the process of research. Most of the victims like to keep mum about their problems out of shame or fear.
Expected Results
Modern slavery has come to thwart the holistic development of the society and brings misery in the lives of the innumerable people who are victimized by the societal evil. The people who are taken as modern slaves hardly find emancipation due to the evil nexus that works in the society. Most of the voices of the victims go unheard. However, the literature and the fictional work goes on to put light upon the burning social issue.
References
Grennan, Conor. (2011). Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost
Children of Nepal. New York: HarperCollins.
Hartley, Aidan. (2004). The Zanzibar Chest. New York: Harper Perennial.
Kara, Siddharth. (2009). Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. New
York: Columbia University Press.
(n.d.). Modern Slavery. BBC. bbc.co.uk, n.d. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/slavery/modern/modern_1.shtml
Nagy, Timea. (2010). Memoirs of a Sex Slave Survivor. London: Communication
Dynamics.
Scarpa, Silvia. (2008). Trafficking in Human Beings: Modern Slavery. New York: Oxford
Appendix
https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=T5uFuPqwZDIC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=modern+slavery&ots=wCJ21YvPSn&sig=GGreiYPn6iuyIVToe_1wBvBZtGc#v=onepage&q=modern%20slavery&f=false
https://books.google.co.in/books?hl=en&lr=&id=WWb-wx1gjLwC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=modern+slavery&ots=Ry9Ft8CMRi&sig=BAc4WZ3bWESf1LdMEnU2ReVqRwI#v=onepage&q=modern%20slavery&f=false
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/slavery/modern/modern_1.shtml
