Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy

by John Bowe

Most Americans are shocked to discover that slavery still exists in the United States. Yet 145 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the CIA estimates that 14,500 to17,000 foreigners are “trafficked” annually into the United States, threatened with violence, and forced to work against their will. Modern people unanimously agree that slavery is abhorrent. How, then, can it be making a reappearance on American soil?

Award-winning journalist John Bowe examines how outsourcing, subcontracting, immigration fraud, and the relentless pursuit of “everyday low prices” have created an opportunity for modern slavery to regain a toehold in the American economy. Bowe uses thorough and often dangerous research, exclusive interviews, eyewitness accounts, and rigorous economic analysis to examine three illegal workplaces where employees are literally or virtually enslaved. From rural Florida to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to the U.S. commonwealth of Saipan in the Western Pacific, he documents coercive and forced labor situations that benefit us all, as consumers and stockholders, fattening the profits of dozens of American food and clothing chains, including Wal-Mart, Kroger, McDonald’s, Burger King, PepsiCo, Del Monte, Gap, Target, JCPenney, J. Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren, and others.

In this eye-opening book, set against the everyday American landscape of shopping malls, outlet stores, and Happy Meals, Bowe reveals how humankind’s darker urges remain alive and well, lingering in the background of every transaction–and what we can do to overcome them.

Praise for

“Investigative, immersion reporting at its best . . . Bowe is a master storyteller whose work is finely tuned and fearless.”
– USA Today

“A brilliant and readable tour of the modern heart of darkness, Nobodies takes a long, hard look at what our democracy is becoming.”
–Thomas Frank, author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?

“Bowe dramatizes in gripping detail these stolen lives.”
– The Oprah Magazine

“The vividness of Bowe’s local stories might make you think twice before reaching for that cheap fruit or pair of discount socks.”
– Condé Nast Portfolio

NAMED ONE OF THE TWENTY BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE VILLAGE VOICE

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Labor, Economics, Cultural, History, School

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Bowe (born 1964) has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, GQ, The American Prospect, National Public Radios This American Life, McSweeneys, and others. He is the co-editor of Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs, one of Harvard Business Reviews best books of 2000, and co-screenwriter of the film Basquiat. In 2004, he received the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award, the Sydney Hillman Award for journalists, writers, and public figures who pursue social justice and public policy for the common good, and the Richard J. Margolis Award, dedicated to journalism that combines social concern and humor.

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem I had with this book is that Bowe undercuts his own analysis by too often expressing ambivalence about the labor abuses described in his case studies. Is it really slavery, he asks over and over. Maybe the laborers are just disgruntled? The introduction is a strong, thoughtful argument about how and why the immense, ugly, growing gap between rich & poor might lead us toward a new era of open, widespread slavery. The basic premise is that democratic principles and belief in basic human rights is the firewall protecting the global working class from outright slavery. However, once Bowe gets into his chapters he is often unfocused and undisciplined and falls into a sort of talking to himself about how maybe things aren't so bad after all. The only chapter in which he clearly resolves his doubts about whether the situation constitutes slavery is the farmworker chapter. But this appears to be due to the influence of the group that mentored him, the Coalition of Imokalee Workers. I wish he had been similarly mentored by activists in each of his other locales because in those chapters he sometimes loses the thread completely.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw the author, John Bowe, on The Daily Show this past fall. He had suprisingly little charisma for someone who wrote a book on such an interesting subject. The book is divided into thirds, each one focusing on a case of modern slavery in the United States. The first takes place in Florida in the tomato and orange grove, the second in Tulsa at a steel mill. Both of these chapters clearly show the effects of our desire for low-cost food and products. The third chapter the author travels to Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth that is a major player in the garment industry and sex trade. His take on what goes on there is much more gray. He does the math and finds there is a clear reason people travel from China to work or run factories there, its profitable. His final conclusion is the most intriguing part of the book. He points out that the marginalized workers far outnumber us, and these people "are not educated, but they're certainly not stupid, and I very much doubt they can be lied to or angered indefinitely." In other words who will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes?

[Isha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was required reading for my job. My understanding of consumer culture and the contemporary slave trade deepened, but I'm short on solutions after reading it. Mainly, it took the joy our of Target for me while not really replacing it with other viable options. It's hard to know what lifestyle changes will actually make a difference to the corporations to the point that they would be motivated to change their practices-and this book didn't really help me with that question. That said, an important thing to read if you're interested in social justice.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extremely readable book about slavery in the United States today. Actual slavery - not just low wages. People forced to work for little or no pay and locked up in substandard dormitories or trailers and unable to leave, with their passports confiscated and threats to harm their families back home if they attempt to escape. This country really is becoming globalized in all the wrong ways in its race to the bottom for working people.

Bowe examines cases of Latino agriculture workers in South Florida, Indian welders in Tulsa, and garment workers in Saipan. it answers the uncomfortable questions some of us have but would rather not probe when we purchase stuff that is unrealistically cheap, be it t-shirts or orange juice.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Most Americans would be shocked to discover that slavery still exists in the United States. Yet, most of us buy goods made by people who aren’t paid for their labor–people who are trapped financially, and often physically. In Nobodies, award-winning journalist John Bowe exposes the outsourcing, corporate chicanery, immigration fraud, and sleights of hand that allow forced labor to continue in the United States while the rest of us notice nothing but the everyday low price at the checkout counter. Based on thorough and often dangerous research, exclusive interviews, and eyewitness accounts, Nobodies takes you inside three illegal workplaces where employees are virtually or literally enslaved. -- Random House Website

Why I didn't finish this book: It was hurting my soul.

I'm not kidding about the above statement. Because I am currently underemployed, my weekly grocery budget is about $30 (and that includes pet food, bathroom stuff, cleaning products, etc.) so even though it kills my soul a little each week, I have to shop a Wal-mart or I could never get everything I need. I have hopes of one day switching to purchasing organic food that is ethically produced. This book revealed a real-life-modern-day slave ring in the United States - and I'm not talking about sex slaves, but slaves of the physical labor variety. The fact that the food I buy every week is not only full of pesticides, ruining individual farmers and the environment, but is also the result of slave labor makes my heart break even more and so I just stopped reading. I shouldn't bury my head and the minute I get a new job will change my shopping habits, but even that won't do a whole lot to help the people being persecuted all around me. Some real legal action needs to be taken and I hope this book will help take steps in the right direction.

[Lovingkiwi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if I'll ever finish this book, since I only needed to read enough for my project (I read the introduction, the Tulsa case and the conclusion). What I do know is that this is an amazing work. John Bowe managed to be a likable voice, challenging and daring, while unafraid to question his own thoughts, reasoning and perception. His in-depth interviews with several people from both sides of the Tulsa case were very impressive, and I loved the fact that he himself was in doubt of whether this classifies as slavery or not. His conclusion was highly interesting and straightforwardly bold, yet somehow managed to not be preachy nor aggressive at the same time.
What I do find lacking is the absent of suggestions for potential solutions. I do get that the main purpose of this book is to get an extended understanding of contemporary slavery. I, however, wish he discussed alternative actions more than simply condemning the possible outcome of free trade.
Aside from that minor critique, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Nobodies. With rich language and a broad scope of perspectives, Bowe successfully captured the essence of modern slavery in the US. Highly recommended!

[Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting study into the domestic and international implications of globalization. However, Bowe goes beyond the headlines and conducts some truly impressive investigative work. Not only does he learn the stories of the people that are affected, and the people doing the affecting, but he masterfully turns those stories into a broader introspection on human nature and how it relates to the world around us.

[Marnie Z · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish...

[Malcolm Logan · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Bowe is worried about the corrupting influences of globalization and issues a credible warning about the dangers of labor exploitation throughout the world; he is an engaging writer and at points this book is a genuine page turner; but, for all that, it fails in its main objective, to expose the sinister problem of slave labor in the USA. It appears that in spite of Bowe's best efforts slave labor is still pretty much an abberation here. He cites three cases: migrant workers in Florida whose illegal status and ignorance of the language are the most coercive elements in keeping them enthrall to their employer; East Indian workers at a welding plant in Tulsa who, he admits, might be sensaltionalizing their bondage in order to attain a more favorable visa status; and the quasi-third-world protectorate of American Saipan where Chinese apparel workers are systematically exploited by a backwater government in league with sweatshop owners. And yet the closest he can come to a clear cut example of slavery is the sex workers in Saipan, who, it occurs to me, are "enslaved" pretty much the same way in every American city, so why travel to Saipan? Well, because the rumors of labor abuse there were so rife Bowe believed he would find evidence of slavery, which was the agenda. Sadly (or not, depending on how you look at it) he came up short. At this point, he might have taken a different tact and written a book about the temptation to abuse labor in a globalized economy, which is pretty much where he ends up anyway, but he hangs on to the notion of slavery to the detriment of his findings and the weakening of his credibility. Look, when you march out a word like "slavery" you'd better have plenty of evidence of physical coercian to compell people to do something against their wills. The presence of labor contracts, freedom of movement and the refusal of the "enslaved" to simply remove themselves from their conditions when they have the opportunity, smacks of a raw labor deal, not a tied-to-the-whipping-post scenario. After all, the worst Bowe can come up with to indict the oppressors who stand in for slavemasters in this book comes from the mouth of a resident of Saipan who says of one such, "He'll get away with as much as he can. If you give him room, he'll abuse people. If you watch over him, he'll comply. Whatever he can do to make money he'll do." A pretty standard observation about the attitude of many American employers and a ringing endorsement of the need for government regulation of labor, but an example of slavery? That's a little too strong, certainly misleading, and perhaps a tad disingenuous.

[Lora · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book. John Bowe reemed Thomas Friedman and The World is Flat throughout. I found it frustrating that he just couldn't stand on his own merits. The idea here is that "our hunger for status overrides our concern for others' dignity. The modern extension of this disregard is the willingness today of First World people to buy things from a global system of production that, we well know, is based on someone, somewhere, getting a raw deal." Now I agree that we ignore the exploitation of the third world to enjoy many of our "deals" and "luxuries" that people expect in our country. I thought Bowe had great material to work with in this book and could have done a much better job in presentation. The stories are fascinating and very necessary to education. His arguments, however, were circular, unclear and extremely negative. Basically saying that humans are greedy and that this exploitation won't stop does not promote any type of improvement. I find myself much more likely to buy into Friedman's arguments that people with consciences can make a difference and are choosing to do so, however small, throughout the world. This idea promotes optimism and change. I don't think that saying that you slept with the prostitutes of the third world and did drugs with them, makes your depressed argument of human greed more viable. We know about human greed. What can we do to change it?

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just the fact that this book exists means it needs some attention. I didn't finish just because I don't have the time for this...I don't need the details to be outraged by the fact of coerced and forced labor.

How convenient that the general public is so outraged over 'illegal aliens.' This allows for this kind of stuff to happen, hidden in plain sight.

The other day I heard an anecdote of racists in Florida, and I have to wonder if it is just coincidence that today I read in this book of several cases of slave labor in Florida. So much of my world is invisible to me...where my clothes are made, my material goods. Whether WalMart or Target, if things are cheap, I have to wonder, who made these for less than livable wages? Did they receive wages at all?

In the introduction, the author says, "In the United States, most modern slavery involves the coercion of recent or trafficked immigrants. Such cases are incredibly hard to detect, because much of hte time the perpetrators don't rely on chains, guns, or even the use of force. All they require is some form of coercion: threats of beating, deportation, death, or, perhaps most effective, harm to the victim's family back home should he or she eve speak up. These cases occur in out-of-the-way places that are, to quote one activist I met, beyond most Americans' "cognitive map."

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating discussion of slave like conditions, focusing on two main cases...the cases brought to light by the Coalition of Immokolee Workers in the South Florida farm labor, and a case of Indian welders in Tulsa. In the course of the discussion he has insightful comments about how power is really a more basic motivation than profit, about the way that servitude has been around very long in human history, the various legal protections people in First World countries take for granted are of recent origin. I would say that there's always an element of slavery in any system of class subordination, but I'd question wheether this has always existed, as Bowe assumes...it's not clear how true this would have been of hunter/gatherer tribes 40,000 years ago. But tribes did keep captives as slaves, and in the ancient world this was a part of the slave/class systems. He also can't seem to imagine a society where people wouldn't subordinate others at all. That is my main criticism. A classless society is an idea foreign to his thinking, or he assumes it isn't possible. He also discusses servitude in Saipan...an American colony, but I haven't read that part yet.

[Care · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for the Menage Discussion at CitizenReader.com. (along with the How To Tell WHen You Are Tired book.)

DEPRESSING. NO real solutions offered. Best summed by a quote in the last chapter:
"We all seek control. Control equals power. Power corrupts. Corruption makes us blind, tyrannical, and desperate to justify our behavior. I state this with less judgment than the words may suggest. I think human nature has both lovely and evil aspects. But let's agree that the evil ones aren't pretty." - John Bowe

Bowe explores the orange pickers in Florida, welders brought from India to Tulsa in a 'training' program, and the garment industry and the economy of Saipan, a US Territory near Guam. All stories are fascinating and sad.

I enjoyed the telling of this book with so much of the author's views and how he 'got the story', his participation in the research. Very readable and he gives a great sense of the people he interviews.

It is encouraging me to consider not only my pocketbook but the effects of my purchasing on the labor that put it in my path.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first part of this brilliant and ambitious book came out of a piece John did for the New Yorker a few years ago on the situation of migrant workers in Immokalee, FL. From there he manages to draw a picture of how exploitation, coercion and outright chattel slavery can appear "normal" to the untrained eye, and how inhumanity is validated by the traffickers and enslavers who manage to get away with it WITHIN OUR BORDERS (and in US territories like Saipan). It makes you think about how we are all complicit in "slavery" to one degree or another. A must-read.

[CTEP]

I read this book for book club because it was something that I realized I didn’t fully understand. When I thought of the modern slave trade I only thought of those highly publicized cases about young women being used as sexual slaves after being lured or kidnapped away from their homes. This book open it up as a much broader issue than I was used to thinking about it.

Those workers who work in a field in Florida for a place to live and 25 cents an hour are as enslaved by the system as anyone else. They often must take loans from those that run the business or communities where they live, usually illegally, because their wages are so low they can’t afford medical treatments or even sometimes food. Because of these loans they are then working as indentured servants and must still pay back all the money borrowed along with hefty amount of interest to their “employers.”

John goes around the country to find domestic workers who are working in conditions that are hard to distinguish from slavery. He goes to the other side of the world to show up sweat shop conditions and that without being thoughtful and conscious of it so much of what we take for granted, like cheap clothes, are also the product of slave labor. Women and children in factories working long hours, being abused, just to make a few sense.

I think that this book is especially relevant to anyone who is working with populations in which a large number of the community members may be in the US illegally. The problem is that if someone can’t go to the police to report their abuse they often have no choice but to continue on being the victim. This is a terrible problem and I encourage everyone to read this book and then have some conversations about what kinds of things we all need to do and change in order to end the sale and enslavement of human life.

[Meghana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enlightening read about the "hidden" slave labor that persists in modern-day America.
I found the way Bowe critiques globalization to be very intriguing. It introduced to me a view on globalization that I didn't have before. Although I was aware of illegal labor practices in the agricultural industry and garment industry abroad, I never realized how much of these practices are perpetuated by the U.S. The garment industry that I envisioned in Asia (with companies like Shein) occurs right on U.S. "soil" in Saipan, making me feel like there really is no alternative to fast fashion. I think what I found so challenging about the book is that Bowe does a great job highlighting the issues of capitalism and the vicious divide it creates between the working class and the rich, but the book creates a feeling of hopelessness. I found it frustrating that Bowe does this analysis, but fails to offer methods of true change, something that IS possible. Even by initiating a conversation, Bowe could prompt his readers to think about deep lifestyle changes. The chapter on Saipan was especially heartbreaking to read and something I never knew about. Sapain- a tiny island off the coast of Japan that is considered United States and associated with its "freedom", but reveals the horrors of what U.S. freedom truly entails. This book further illuminated the dark history of the United States and the continued history we make as a nation. I don't think I can look at my produce, my clothes, my material belongings in the same way. A tag with "made in the USA" has deeper connotations than most realize.

[Lola Grace]

“If you can read this page, you are on top of the world and billions of people are beneath you.” I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s easy to read, takes extremely nuanced and tricky topics and distills them down into fundamentals that are easy to understand, and it’s very, very enlightening. I’ve worked in the anti labor trafficking space for a few years, and I still found myself learning something new, highlighting something, and bookmarking nearly every other page. Not only is it a masterful documentation of modern slave labor, it framed a few things in ways that were entirely new to me and very compelling. An absolute must read!

[Daniel Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book out of interest in learning about Saipan, and in that I was satisfied. But aside from a few philosophical musings between chapters and a conclusion that gives an interesting call to action, I didn’t feel the book was brimming with insight. The author lets his biases show often. He doesn’t hide his contempt for certain people, sometimes transcribing their accents, sometimes even giving them mean nicknames. Others, he doesn’t condemn hard enough. The book would make for a better podcast than a body of research.

[Vito Veii · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a real eye opener. I am glad I read it.

[Rayna Polsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Real, compassionate, believable. Reminds me of Michael Cunningham.

[Wilma · Rating 5 out of 5]

You see Walmart. You see customers of Walmart through Saipan

[Zack · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is less a study of modern-day slavery than it is a series of dispatches on and a critique of globalization. And on that count, there was certainly enough in this book to make one disgusted with labor conditions and economic trends in the US and around the world in this new era. The book, for example, was published in 2007, around the time a new obsession with food -- specifically, where our food "comes from" -- swept over the US. It's striking then that labor conditions seem to have gone absent in the public discourse on agriculture. (One hears about labor fights in this sector every once in a while, particularly with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and they feature prominently in the book's section on Florida.)

But otherwise, I found the book generally disappointing and often frustrating. While Bowe is certainly an honest writer, I found him at least mildly condescending toward everyone he wrote about. To be sure, he didn't make abject, passive victims of his subjects, or glorify poverty; however, he seemed to treat all of his subjects -- the perpetrators, the workers, everyone in between -- with a sort of snooty curiosity.

He also seemed fairly ambivalent about the subject of the book and would frequently wander off, ostensibly providing context or building a narrative, without ultimately saying much. Despite all the time he spent in Saipan (he makes a point of noting this, repeatedly), one gets the impression from the bloated section on the island that Bowe simply took several extended vacations there, interviewing countless people informally to get a sense of the place but not really coming up with anything hard-hitting. On the one hand, one leaves with more knowledge of a place that rarely shows up on our radar, but on the other, Bowe's account is not especially cohesive, nor does he go too far into depth.

His basic thesis is that slavery has not so much an economic basis but one rooted in human nature -- that is, the desire to control and to seek power over others. It's compelling, and I think his descriptions of forced labor in the Florida and Tulsa chapters force us to reconsider the construction of "slavery" in the popular imagination since the advent of civil rights in this country, or at least what this construction leads us to expect of contemporary cases. But he states his thesis several times without really examining or supporting it. In the book's conclusion, Bowe rightly pokes holes in the cult of globalization, as evangelized by Tom Friedman, but he doesn't offer the best of correctives himself, coming off instead sanctimonious and simplistic.

[Michelle Adamo #EmptyNestReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nobodies: Modern American Slavery and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy is the story of slavery today - in companies that service United States' businesses. Yes, an underground slave trade exists today in our country and outside of it… both intended to support our economy, often in agriculture but also in other businesses. People are trapped in non-paying jobs, often financially, sometimes literally.

Through "outsourcing, corporate chicanery, immigration fraud, and sleights of hand” forced labor continues in this country. Nobodies highlights a few of the illegal workplaces that service companies with famous brands that we are all familiar with. In Oklahoma, a steel mill worked with people in India and Kuwait to import workers from India under the guise of a training program. In actuality upon arrival, the workers legal documents were confiscated and they were locked into the factory’s building. In Florida, immigrants (often illegal) are forced to pick produce locked away at night, treated cruelty and unpaid. The garment (and sex trade industry) in Saipan (a US Commonwealth) is the third area examined by Bowe.

A very readable book that looks at the consequences of companies seeking the cheapest labor in order to offer the least expensive product. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For more book reviews and recommendations follow me at #EmptyNestReader #instagram #facebook #Goodreads #Nobodies #modernamericanslavelaborandthedarksideofthenewglobaleconomy #JohnBowe #nonfiction #slavelabor #economy #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramalabama #bookstagrammichigan #bookreviews #bookreviewer #bookrecommendations #AugustReads #readalittlelearnalittlelivealittle #5starbooks

[Friend of the Talking Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no classic slavery in modern America, a la antebellum South, of course. Yet the worst-off, most exploited workers in America work in conditions not far from slavery. In central Florida, semiliterate illegal immigrants from Central America were made to pick oranges; their pay was mostly taken up by deductions for bad food and housing, and they had to spend the rest at an overpriced grocery store owned by the contractor's wife. The contractor told them that they are deeply in debt to him, and he would shoot whoever tries to escape; he did kill one farmworker and broke the knees of another. In Tulsa, the owner of an oil storage tank factory laid off his American workers and brought skilled Indian welders, ostensibly for training; he paid them a fraction of the minimum wage, housed them in squalid barracks, one bunk standing next to an industrial X-ray machine, and underfed them. On the Pacific island of Saipan, a protectorate of the United States that is free of both American import tariffs and labor protection laws, Chinese and Filipina seamstresses either work long hours in sweatshops for half the mainland minimum wage, or become prostitutes; Jack Abramoff was paid millions of dollars by the island's government to lobby in Congress against extending the laws to the island. The afterword argues against the evils of globalization, but its arguments are unoriginal. It is manifestly not true that "Osama bin Laden is just another name for Osama bin jobs and Osama bin minimum wage, Osama bin social justice," as a cursory look at the terrorist's writing reveals.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bowe goes deeper into the sound bites that are buried in the nightly news to reveal the extents of the pandemic of slave labor. As previous reviewers have mentioned, the book is divided into three sections: Florida (migrant farm workers), Tulsa (immigrant welders from India), and Saipan (factory workers and sex workers.)
The bulk of the book is by far in the section on Saipan, which delved into the many roots of the problem (who knew that Abramoff could be involved in this one!) For me, I felt that the author was a little long winded, but brought up many interesting first person researched information.
The most engaging part of the book was the section on Tulsa where I truly felt Bowe went out of his way to describe all sides of the story. It was far more balanced than conventional news and really kept me captivated.
The author proposed some solutions for ameliorating the fortunes of farm workers (at a cost of $50 per household), but did not offer many ideas on what can be done to Saipan. An eye opening book, but could have been a bit more...

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

To say this book was interesting is an understatement. It's amazing what people will go through to get to this country... what they're subjected to once they get here is utterly deplorable. (This is me stepping off of my soap box.)

So yes, the book does just what the title says - it's examines three distinct modern day slavery situations. But interspersed throughout those accounts are questions and commentary about one's basic sense of humanity and responsibility for others. It makes you think about how the products you buy can affect someone's livelihood and how the notion of a global economy is not necessarily beneficial to all parties involved. Yes, we know there has to be someone on the losing side of things, but hearing the other side of the story from the people involved makes things much more tangible and real. And that Bowe has a sense of humor and is a great story teller doesn't hurt either.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This quick read by John Bowe gives the reader into contemporary labor slavery through three recent American stories (migrant farmers in Florida, Indian welders in Oklahoma, and garment workers on Saipan). While his journalism focuses on his America, he makes the case that this is a broader human phenomenon, which he concludes is about control and power. His account of Saipan is his most sustained attempt to examine the effects of slavery on a society, if perhaps also a bit disorganized in its approach. This book is worth reading if for no other reason than to bring home the reality that you have likely recently bought, or will buy before too long, some product that is a result of forced (or coerced) labor. But my take-away is that stories like these should push us to re-imagine our labor system.

[Kathleen (itpdx) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The League of Women Voters has been studying immigration in the US for the past year and half. I started into the study with the idea that we could come up with a workable and fair immigration system in the US. My conclusion has been that our immigration laws and their enforcement are not going to solve the problem. We now have a system of "free trade" in which capital and goods are allowed to move freely but labor is not. This leaves an unbalanced system where workers are subject to exploitation.

Bowe provides examples of Mexican and Central American farmworkers in Florida, Indian welders in Oklahoma and textile workers in Saipan. This is an interesting and well-written book. He comes to the scary conclusion that if we don't find a way to provide just compensation for the world's workers our way of life may come unraveled in fairly short order.

[ylin002 · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this world of hierarchies,
I guess we all need something beneath us.
– Jonathan Mooney, The Short Bus

almost american
.
you can’t coax an orange to grow
the way you can a migrant worker to
climb two stories into a tree of
thorns, atop a ladder nestled in
insecurity. you can also convince
him to stay up there until he picks
a nearest full ninety-nine-
pound sack, and then you can press him
into repeating himself sixty, seventy,
or eighty times – depending
on the fairness of
sky – and by nightfall
you can stuff forty-nine
dollars into his pocket and one
juicy orange into each of ours
.
20080208:1212
y

[Victoria (hotcocoaandbooks) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the most boring human trafficking book I've read (and I've read about 20). Although the background information was nice regarding the history of areas and people for each account (which there were three of) I don't think it focused enough on the hard labor issues as it could have. He was a bit of a rambler to me without being interesting. It is the first book on the subject matter that could not hold my attention to wanting to know more. It did however do a good job of showing how ignorant people are to calling things slavery when they are, and recognizing when it exists in the U.S.