The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today [Hardcover]

Kevin Bales (Author), Ron Soodalter (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520255151 | ISBN-13: 978-0520255159 | Publication Date: June 18, 2009 | Edition: 1

In this riveting book, authors and authorities on modern day slavery Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter expose the disturbing phenomenon of human trafficking and slavery that exists now in the United States. In The Slave Next Door we find that slaves are all around us, hidden in plain sight: the dishwasher in the kitchen of the neighborhood restaurant, the kids on the corner selling cheap trinkets, the man sweeping the floor of the local department store. In these pages we also meet some unexpected slaveholders, such as a 27-year old middle-class Texas housewife who is currently serving a life sentence for offences including slavery. Weaving together a wealth of voices--from slaves, slaveholders, and traffickers as well as from experts, counselors, law enforcement officers, rescue and support groups, and others--this book is also a call to action, telling what we, as private citizens, can do to finally bring an end to this horrific crime.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although most people imagine widespread enslavement only in the historical past, human trafficking continues to exist today in myriad forms around the world. In this informative call to action, Bales (Disposable People), sociologist and president of Free the Slaves, and Soodalter (Hanging Captain Gordon), a historian, document routine coercive slave labor in domestic service, prostitution, farm labor, factories, light industry, prisons and mining operations. While many sensational cases have been well publicized, the authors demonstrate that slavery exists in mundane and unexpected forms. Their case studies begin in an American suburb and traverse the globe to urban China and rural Ghana, returning to Los Angeles, Calif., and East Orange, N.J., just a few of 100-plus documented cases in the U.S. The second half of the book focuses on causes and solutions, with a helpful emphasis on how ordinary individuals can recognize and report coercive situations, creating a humane and helpful primer on how to sever the links that create and hide human bondage. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"An informative call to action . . . a humane and helpful primer on how to sever the links that create and hide human bondage."--Publishers Weekly

"Anyone wanting a better understanding of the ongoing problem of slavery in the United States--and their own role in perpetuating or eradicating it--should read this book."--California Lawyer

"Essential reading for anyone interested in human rights. . . . [The authors] appeal to the reader's sense of justice and compassion."--Foreign Policy In Focus

"If you read one book on human trafficking this year, make it The Slave Next Door. . . . Digestible, enjoyable, and ultimately uplifting."--Change.org

"With the help of this great book . . . we can shift from ignoring this crude reality to [eradicating] this abominable practice."--African Politics Portal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (June 18, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520255151
• ISBN-13: 978-0520255159
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #202,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed how modern slavery penetrates the global economy and flows into the things we buy. Named by Utne Reader as a "visionary who is changing your world;" and the originator of one of "100 World-Changing Discoveries" by the Association of British Universities, he is a leading abolitionist in the last great anti-slavery movement. In 2001 he co-founded Free the Slaves, the American sister-organization of the UK's Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest human rights group. In eight years it has helped to liberate thousands of slaves in India, Nepal, Haiti, Ghana, Brazil, Ivory Coast, and Bangladesh, and work with them to build new lives of dignity. After reading Bales' book Ending Slavery, President Clinton told the plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative: "It tells you that it is a problem we can solve and here's how to do it." This year, with Ron Soodalter, he published The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today, an expose and plan to make America slave-free for the first time in its history.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chinese Acrobats and Fighting Dogs, January 5, 2010

By 

Martin Arrowsmith (America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today (Hardcover)

A Note from the Authors, Ron Soodalter and Kevin Bales:

In his review Mr. Wright is correct that the case involving the Chinese acrobats ended without substantiating the allegation of slavery, a fact we would have included in the book if we had known it at the time the manuscript went to press. It is the nature of writing about current affairs that while the writing must stop at some point so that the printing can begin, events simply continue and will always overtake the text.

However, Mr. Wright's assertion that insufficient research was done on this case, or for that matter on the book in general, is incorrect. Likewise is his assumption that we would distort our information "to sell copy," which is a very serious accusation to make against two scholars who have built reputations on their careful attention to fact and detail. Just to be clear: everything in our book was researched and documented, every point has a clear and accessible citation in the extensive notes to each chapter. In this particular case, we used information from a number of sources beyond the media reports, including interviews with and statements from the Department of Justice, the FBI, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Bork. All of our sources are presented clearly and transparently and we stand by the information we had at the time that we prepared the manuscript. Since, in fact, the charges were ultimately dismissed, we have made the appropriate changes in the upcoming paperback edition (see Epilogue addition to the paperback edition below).

Of course, it would have been helpful to readers if in his review of our book Mr. Wright had identified himself as a lawyer involved in the case of the Chinese acrobats - put simply, he has a dog in this fight. The funny thing is that as the authors of The Slave Next Door we DON'T have a dog in this fight. We have no interest or desire to suggest that slavery exists where it doesn't. Our concern and our dedication is to truthful reporting and fighting to bring an end to slavery in America.
~ Ron Soodalter and Kevin Bales

The following has been added to the Epilogue of the forthcoming paperback edition of The Slave Next Door:

Latest on the Chinese Acrobats
The case involving a troupe of Chinese acrobats who had allegedly been trafficked into slavery in Las Vegas (ref. Chapter 5, pp. 118-210) has been dismissed. According to the New York Times, "Steven W. Myhre, the acting United States attorney for Nevada, said a magistrate judge had initially approved the complaint. 'Upon further investigation, however, the United States has determined that it has been unable to develop evidence sufficient to prove those charges beyond a reasonable doubt,' Mr. Myhre told the Las Vegas Review-Journal." Our apologies to Mr. You Zhi Li if, in fact, he is blameless; thankfully, this is why we have Epilogues![i]

[i] "Slavery Charges are Dismissed" (AP) New York Times, December 25, 2009

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MODERN SLAVERY VISIT [...]

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive Work on Slavery in America Today, July 12, 2009

By 

Marsha Veit (Mount Kisco, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today (Hardcover)

With "The Slave Next Door" Bales and Soodalter have written the definitive work for this recently "hot" social issue.
Meticulously researched (over 30 pages of appendices and notes) and compelling, it documents not only the problem but a well thought out plan of action for government, law enforcement and NGOs. The authors also spell out ways for ordinary citizens to do right by their fellow human beings.
This book should be required reading for every legislator, law enforcement officer and religious leader in the country.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Survey of 21st Century Slavery in U.S., November 14, 2009

By 

Richard Jewell (Minneapolis, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Slave Next Door: Human Trafficking and Slavery in America Today (Hardcover)

I offer my first- and second-year college writing students a number of books from which to write about each semester on the subject of victims of war, and I allow some of these books to be on war-like conditions: after all, events like rape and murder recreate war episodes to victims even if they are not part of a war. Certainly, "The Slave Next Door" qualifies. While its advocacy against human slavery is clear and strong, it maintains an objectivity and seeks to gather facts in great detail to bolster its assertions that (1) slavery is much more common than most of us realize, (2) many of us see or are affected by it each day in the products we use and the culture we experience, and (3) it won't go away easily or soon. The book is, in these regards, somewhat depressing, but at the same time it is filled with narratives of individual illustrative cases that make it a very interesting read.

One of the more worthy facts and illustrative stories in "Slave" is that sex slavery accounts for a smaller part of slavery in the U.S. than docudramas on TV suggest: agricultural, small-business, and even domestic household slavery all are huge businesses. Individual stories are sometimes heartbreaking and often frustrating in their outcomes as public and private agencies fight, often valiantly but with often with little or no useful result, to help men, women, and children who have been grabbed, tricked, or otherwise spun by a web of lies and violence into a world they never wanted or expected and don't know how to handle. The chapters are arranged such that it is quite possible to read and focus on just a few to gain important knowledge on specific aspects of the slave trade in the U.S.

What are the book's weaknesses? It is somewhat repetitive, partly to get its points across and partly, I would assume, from the author's assumption that many people will in fact choose just a few chapters to read. There is also, especially in the final chapters, quite a bit of advocacy for change, not to mention intricate details of state and federal laws, mandates, and organizations, little of which helped or attracted me as a reader. On the other hand, I have to admit I'm glad these details are there--on the record--for individuals and groups who might need them to help create new organizations or projects to fight U.S. slavery. One more wish I had is that even though books like this normally don't have illustrations, I would have enjoyed having photos or even a short photo section of eight to sixteen pages--especially after seeing TV documentaries about such slavery--so that I could see the faces of those who were enslaved and those who enslaved them.

But these are minor concerns. In all, I strongly recommend "Slaves" to anyone interested in the subject.