This presentation will explore the history of the 1926 Slavery Convention and the 1930 Forced Labour Convention. The history of the two conventions reveals that the processes of defining slavery and forced labor were far more contingent and open-ended than the definitions of those terms ultimately produced suggest, and that colonial interest drove a great deal of the process. At the same time, there was more potential in the drafting of the Forced Labour Convention in particular than present debates and understandings of forced labor suggest. This presentation will explore the processes through which the relevant terms and legal obligations were established, and some of the lessons the history might hold for contemporary reflections on coercion to work.

About the Speaker: Prof. Christopher Roberts, Assistant Professor, CUHK LAW