The Economics of Forced Labor

In: Itinerario: international journal on the history of European expansion and global interaction, Band 17, Heft 1, S. 59-77

Abstract

The problem of forced labor has been at the center of much recent historical literature. If anything, the debate has shown that not all coercion has the same social, political, and economic effects upon the coerced laborer and his (or her) employer. Central to this debate is the question why coerced labor is needed, and why certain forms of coerced labor are chosen under certain circumstances. Why do the specific forms of coerced labor change over time and differ across space, and why, even in a given area at a given time, do differing forms of coerced labor exist?