ABSTRACT
The concept of slavery includes a variety of practices and institutions connected with the restriction of freedom and exploitation of people. Not all of these practices are as violent as the historical chattel slavery in the Americas, but all of them have such features as the restriction of personal freedom and some violence. This chapter argues that the central element of slavery is the unlawful removal of personal freedom and control over a life, which then passes to a third party. This means that the concept of slavery not only refers to the economic exploitation of people but also the denial of subject status. In other words, slavery includes the de-humanisation and objectification of slaves or a process of denial of subject status of persons held in slavery. This chapter also shows that the phenomenon of slavery in general and bonded labour in particular cannot be studied in isolation from the wider social context, and there is a need to look at the key socioeconomic factors that constitute the existence of slavery.
