Although talk is always of their abolition, in this article I reflect on whether the dark triumvirate of trafficking, slavery and forced labour are actually necessary for the political and conceptual maintenance of liberal capitalism itself.

Slavery, trafficking and forced labour are crimes which sit at the far end of the labour exploitation spectrum. As Bridget Anderson observes, they are to “badness” what Apple Pie and Motherhood are to “goodness” – that is, just as we all know that apple pie and motherhood are “good”, so everybody knows that these three are “bad”. […]