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lisamchuk's review against another edition
5.0
Like his first book, Bonded Labor is incredibly well researched, documented and written. Kara certainly knows what he's talking about, and goes into such rich detail, presenting the lives of the many people he talked to who were forced into bonded labor. Like his first book, it's hopelessly unsettling. I can't believe this still goes in in this day and age (says the girl of privilege from a prosperous nation). Kara presents the real life situation in such sectors as agriculture, bricks, construction, shrimp, tea, carpets, and domestic servitude. Such a bleak picture. I'm going to try to never eat shrimp again.
Kara does an excellent job of also presenting realistic and extensive solutions to the issues, but I couldn't help but think how hopeless this was. Yes, there are laws, and yes there are ways to break millions of people out of dismal modern day slavery, but the governments of India and South East Asia look the other way, the law enforcement officials are bribed, the rich get richer and the poor hope for death.
So sad.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants their eyes opened to stories that will make then change their buying and consumption habits. It's important people know that modern day slavery is a thing. Only then will something maybe change.
Kara does an excellent job of also presenting realistic and extensive solutions to the issues, but I couldn't help but think how hopeless this was. Yes, there are laws, and yes there are ways to break millions of people out of dismal modern day slavery, but the governments of India and South East Asia look the other way, the law enforcement officials are bribed, the rich get richer and the poor hope for death.
So sad.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants their eyes opened to stories that will make then change their buying and consumption habits. It's important people know that modern day slavery is a thing. Only then will something maybe change.
atsundarsingh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.25
I think it's an important and detailed study, but I found the critical thinking lacking. The fieldwork and data collected are massively impressive though, so still important.
love_claire's review against another edition
5.0
The value of this book lies not only in its adroit exposure of bonded labor in South Asia but in the way in which Kara explains the nature of bonded labor with both simplicity and sophistication so that, as a reader coming to the book with no knowledge of the subject matter, I was able to walk away feeling informed and enlightened. Kara also offers a model to scholars on how to introduce a moral ingredient into writings about atrocities such as slavery. Further, he demonstrates skill in investigating the systemic nature of bonded labor, using a dogged persistence to pursue and deconstruct a variety of written and oral sources, even when they were not always forthcoming. An excellent book to introduce any reader to the subject of modern slavery.
itsneilcochrane's review against another edition
3.0
This book makes me want to buy only Fair Trade things forever. It's very academic in style and not very well geared toward casual readers, but it's comprehensive and explicit.
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