ABSTRACT
During the past two decades, thousands of organizations have addressed the challenges of modern slavery (or human trafficking). Nevertheless, with an estimated 50 million people currently trapped in situations that fall under the umbrella term of modern slavery, it remains a significant social problem. Social movement theory has provided a useful set of tools for understanding the activities of such organizations and their supporters. This chapter examines how aspects of Christian theology mobilize supporters within the anti-slavery social movement. The most widely accepted contribution is the Judeo-Christo-Islamic assertion that all people were created in the image of God and continue to carry that divine image. Beyond that common motivation, extensive theological differences lead to divergent approaches to anti-slavery interventions. In this chapter, William Sewell's concept of schema is applied primarily to contrasting theological positions which focus on either personal sin or structural sin, and potentially on mimetic theory and restorative justice, to show how they influence the mobilization of support for various intervention strategies.
