Suchergebnisse

This paper explores the concept of 'new' or modern slavery in the wake of media reports of widespread child slavery on cocoa plantations in Côte d'Ivoire (the RCI). The first part defines slavery as unpaid forced labour, identifies the defining feature of modern slavery as the shift in the master-slave relation from legal ownership to illegal control, and then draws on a range of secondary sources to show that child slavery does exist in the Côte d'Ivoire even if numbers are contested. The many thousands of child slaves apparently trafficked from Mali make this a West African (and not simply Ivorian) phenomenon. The aspects of global capitalist development used in part two to explain the Ivorian situation, namely deproletarianisation and the costs of adjustment are also wider processes not unique to one country. The focus on the RCI as a case study is therefore intended as a stimulus to further questions and broader research into the relationship between capitalism and modern slavery in Africa.

This article draws on academic writings in international relations and development studies and on primary research conducted in India. Three particular nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) discussed in the article are the Pan-Himalayan Grassroots Foundation (PHGF), Development Alternatives (DA), and Lokayan. The purpose of this analysis is to explore the idea of a singular model of NGO development (sometimes called alternative or people-centered development), as well as the factors that account for existing similarities and differences among NGOs. The article shows that NGOs can share the same political ideals (such as empowerment of the poor) yet vary widely in how they theorize and operationalize development. It is important, therefore, to distinguish the unity exhibited in collective opposition to conventional development from the diversity of alternative philosophies and approaches. In conclusion, the article summarizes the main findings and draws broader lessons about ambiguity and contradiction from the Indian case studies.