Call for Papers: 'Corporate Accountability and Forced Labour in Value Chains'

The Anti-Trafficking Review calls for papers for a Special Issue themed ‘Corporate Accountability and Forced Labour in Value Chains’.

Governments, predominantly in the Global North, have seized on transparency and corporate sustainability due diligence laws, trade agreements, and import bans to tackle forced labour in supply and value chains. In theory, these measures use the economic leverage of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the states in which these MNEs are headquartered to put pressure on suppliers and the states where suppliers are located to end the exploitation of workers in the Global South. These instruments are designed to have a cross-border effect. While many advocates in the Global North support them, little is known about how labour and migrant rights advocates or governments in other regions of the world view these measures. Indeed, there is little research about the political mobilisation that led to these initiatives or their impact on workers in or from the Global South.

Focusing on the role of MNEs and labour and supply chains in creating conditions of precarity and exploitation, this special issue of Anti-Trafficking Review will explore how these cross-border governance mechanisms came to be adopted in different countries and how they are viewed in the countries and regions where they are designed to take effect. It will also compare different initiatives and their impact on the workers they are supposed to protect.

We welcome submissions comparing what led to different or similar regulatory initiatives across different countries and the impact of similar regulatory initiatives in different countries. We also invite submissions examining the regulatory interaction of different initiatives in one country or sector and whether these initiatives empower workers, prevent human trafficking, forced labour, and other forms of exploitation, and lead to justice for perpetrators and victims.

Contributors are invited to engage with, but need not limit themselves to, the following questions:

• Do corporate sustainability due diligence and supply chain transparency laws and trade agreements support workers’ rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining? Does the degree to which these regulatory mechanisms enhance workers’ voice and power depend on regulatory design, the nature of the supply chains, local factors and institutions, or a combination of these elements?
• What factors influence whether a state introduces a law to combat forced labour in supply chains? What influences the shape of this legislation? How do social actors mobilise to obtain and to enforce these laws? What kinds of trade-offs do they make along the way?
• How do corporate sustainability laws, forced labour import bans, and trade laws and agreements interact? Who are the targets of the different mechanisms?
• Who is being protected by import bans on goods made with forced labour? Can such import bans be used to empower workers?
• How do due diligence and transparency laws work in different locations? Are there ways that local actors can make use of corporate sustainability due diligence laws to enhance workers’ voice and power? Do due diligence and transparency laws do more than ‘harden’ existing corporate social responsibility practices?
• Are there drawbacks to using corporate social sustainably laws or import bans for protecting workers and preventing exploitation? Is there colleterial damage that human rights advocates should consider?
• Are mandatory modern slavery reporting requirements or corporate sustainability due diligence laws effective in preventing forced labour and human trafficking and providing remedies to victims?
• What is the impact of bilateral or (inter-)regional free trade agreements on local workers and their decisions to migrate?
• What are some successful or unsuccessful strategies in holding corporations accountable for forced labour or human trafficking in their supply chains?

 

Deadline for submissions: 1 June 2025

 

In addition to full-length conceptual, research-based, or case study thematic articles, we invite authors to submit short, blog-style pieces defending or rejecting the proposition ‘Multinational enterprises are essential allies in the fight against forced labour and human trafficking’. We particularly encourage contributions from organisers, activists, service providers, and people with lived experience of exploitation, precarious labour, or human trafficking.

Word count for full article submissions: 5,000 - 7,000 words, including footnotes, author bio, and abstract.

Word count for short pieces: 1,200 - 1,500 words, including footnotes and author bio.

We advise those interested in submitting to check out the journal’s style guide and submission guidelines and/or email the editorial team at atr@gaatw.org with any queries.

 

Special Issue to be published in April 2026.