Participatory Budgeting and Sustainable Development

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Love in the Free Market

Love in the Free Market;

Human Trafficking and Sexual Slavery Practices

In Thailand’s Sex Industry

 

Erna Anjarwati

Researcher at Human Rights Center

United Nations-University for Peace

 

Introduction

“It’s really difficult if your mum asks you to get money to feed the family, you want to help. Therefore, finally I decided to come with my aunt from the countryside to work in the seaside resort of Pattaya. I was only 16 at the time and my family had various problems in financial, so I was just working everything out” (Keng, Chiang Rai Girl, the interview has taken on June 7^th, 2007 at 5.37am in Patpong area, Bangkok).

            Tourism is one, if not the main driving fuel of Thailand’s economy. Despite the tsunami incident, the sporadic religious conflicts, political issues and also the increasing competition coming from neighboring countries, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, China and India, however, tourism in Thailand is still growing nowadays and be the famous one in Asia even in the wide world. Sadly though, commercialized sex and prostitution are generally acknowledged and even perpetuated as integral factors contributing to the miracle growth in the country which is known as Asian Adults Playground for many foreigners.

            Sex industry in Thailand can not be separated by trafficking issue in Mekong region, which is composed of Thailand itself, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Burma. Trafficking in Mekong Region is predominantly from rural to urban areas, from poor to wealthier country, such Thailand. Therefore, it reflects both the growth in the sex industry and the commoditization of children, women and Indigenous people who live in the Northern East part of Thailand.  According to Malarek explanation, Trafficking in human beings is now the third largest moneymaking venture in the world, after illegal weapons and drugs. (Malarek, 1998, p.32). Moreover, Richard Poulin, a Sociologist of the Ottawa University, Canada based on his sociology’s perspective, argues that the sex industry in many part of the world has come to occupy a strategic and central position in the development as impact of globalization and international capitalism. For this reason the sex trade is increasingly taking on the guise of an ordinary sector of the economy (Poulin, 2003, pp. 38-43).

Referring to the explanation above, the author argues that human trafficking and sexual slavery in the sex trade issues in Thailand are also back grounded by the reason that capitalist globalization practices nowadays has been embedded to the social and cultural context of the Thai society. In the Thai current society, globalization and sex trade itself involve an unprecedented commodification of human beings, particularly women and children, which is direct or indirect, it has created a market of sexual exchanges which has been generated through the massive deployment of prostitution in which million of women, children, and Indigenous People in Mekong Region have been converted into sexual commodities. The industrialization of prostitution, traffic in women and children, and sexual tourism in Thailand are the free marginal market which deteriorated by increasingly central aspect of current capitalist globalization. Nowadays, prostitution and human trafficking are just some of the activities which the sex industry in Thailand has come to be known around the world for. Furthermore, the next question on addressing these issues can holistically be connected to the basic question, despite the government of Thailand has released several regulations to prevent both issues but human trafficking and sexual slavery have been existing in Thailand.

Therefore, in order to elaborate these issues in-depth, this paper provides an overview of the global trade in the trafficking and sexual slavery practices into the sex industry in Thailand which will be connected to the ICCPR on articles 8 and 11 on addressing slavery and movement issues. It also sets out the explanation of both patterns based on the social and cultural context of Mekong’s society; discusses some of their impacts; and also difficulties in reaching consensus on the extent of these problems in Thailand. Finally, this academic paper is ended on conclusion and some points of recommendations.

Research Methodology

This mini research conducted by using qualitative methods. It is undertaken from June 5^th to 15^th, 2007 in Thailand when researcher engaged in primary data gathering, by mixing two main approaches. Primarily approach is In-depth community studies used Rapid Anthropological Assessment Procedures (RAAP) by disseminating semi formal in-depth interview instruments to the selected informants and doing participant observer in order to gather primary data that is related to human trafficking and prostitution patterns. Secondly is ethnography method by using Travel Diaries conducted in gathering many primary data related to the poverty patterns and practical implementation of Buddhist Cultures in Thai’s daily activities. This mini research is carried out in two districts in Chiang Rai province near the borderland between Thailand and Burma as well as at the Patpong sex tourism area at the down town of Bangkok.

From primary and secondary data gathering and doing the social mapping, researcher determined two main finding points. Primarily, the victims who are involved in these practices were identified as women and children, particularly from around Mekong region countries and also Indigenous People who live in the northern east part of Thailand due to the lack of citizenship status since Thai government released a controversial policy in 1976 to unacknowledged them as Thai citizen because they can not speak Thai and try to maintain their ethnic native languages. Secondly, there are at least four basic elements that have been supporting for the existence of these practices in Thailand, composed of poverty, Buddhist Culture implementation, and political issues in Burma. Researcher conducted both methods in the fields in order to gather as many as possible of basic elements that have been supporting for human trafficking and sexual slavery practices in Thailand, so that those primary evidences can allow the researcher to establish general patterns of background and impacts of both practices in the sex tourism in Thailand.

Thailand; Sex Tourism Gone Wrong

 “For too many men in the rest of the world, see women as objects, as something that can be bought and sold. A woman’s body is not the same as a glass of brandy or an ice cream after a good dinner”. (Swedish Deputy Prime Minister, Margareta Winberg in Burn, 2005, p. 179).

            There is no wonder that sex tourists are attracted to come to Thailand in droves. Sex tourism in Thailand can be traced back to the Vietnam War in the 1960’s when the American military would take their rest and recreation leave in places like Bangkok or any of the outlying beaches in the country. From then on, Thailand has gained a notorious reputation as a haven for sex tourists, spurred on by continuous demands from a large base of locals, mostly men and even larger group foreign tourists. It has been said that beyond the usual tourist offerings, both the government of Thailand and Thai people themselves promises far cheaper sexual services and a wide range of choices easily accessible and available for those whose definition of adventure involves sex.

Farang is the Thai term for foreigners, mostly Western or Japanese men who come to Thailand for the purpose of procuring sex and they are usually the primary market for the sex tour package trips. They are the main targets of sex operators who call their packages “exotic vacations” to the “Disneyland of the adult world”.  Prostitution is plainly about the sexual objectification of women, when they become commodities to be bought and sold and how women’s few economic options may force them into prostitution. Barry argues that prostitution is a form of sexual slavery because women and girls are held over time for sexual use and because getting out of prostitution requires escape (1995, p.32). According to the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Right), particularly on article number 8 mentions that “No one shall be held in slavery; slavery and the slave-trade in all their forms shall be prohibited and No one shall be held in servitude”.

Some portion, thought by the UN, both international and local NGOs, and the government estimated about 200 thousand to 300 thousand sex industry workers in the country were either underage or in involuntary servitude or debt bondage (Inglis, 2005, p.71). Prostitution in Thailand comes in a number of forms, mainly brothels, body massage parlors, hostess bars, karaoke places, various go-go bars and beer bars which often cater to Western expatriates or tourists. Go-go bars as the famous sex tourism are distinguished by having dancing on stage similar to a strip club in western countries, dancers will more likely be topless or in a bikini or similar revealing costume rather than fully naked. Go-go bars operate the staff receive a monthly salary, from about 2,000 baht in some beer bars to about 10,000 baht in better go-go bars. Many of these bars are owned and operated by Westerners. Unfortunately, the effect of prostitution on women and children is overlooked by the Thai government, who use it to boost sexual tourism and major source of cash for economic development.

Majority of prostitutes were not kept under physical constraint, but a large number worked in debt bondage. Widespread sex tourism in Thailand encourages trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Trafficking within the country and from neighboring countries into the country tended to be carried out by loosely organized small groups that often had close ties in the source communities. Burmese, Laotian, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Thai individuals were involved in labor trafficking along the border. In some cases, the traffickers themselves were former victims.

Groomed for Sex;

From the Circle of Poverty, the Idea of Destiny

Toward the Repression Practices

Everyday people make decisions to leave their homes, communities and countries. Some leave because they are afraid. They are afraid for their lives, and for the lives of their children and loved ones. Others leave because their social or economic situation has compelled them to do so. People have always migrated from one location to another for purposes of survival and in an effort to increase their quality of life. There, they service the upper income and cooperate beneficiaries of globalization, such as prostitution. In Thai present society, visiting prostitutes is considered common but necessarily acceptable behavior for men. Therefore, many Thai’s women believe that this existence reduces the incidence of rape, and view prostitution as the lesser evil compared to husbands taking mistresses or mia noi in local language.

Sex trade and sex tourism as the huge impact of globalization are presently related to each other that can be supporting both existance in Thai present society. A significant number of women and children from Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam are economic migrants who wind up in forced or bonded labor and commercial sexual exploitation in Thailand. Regional economic disparities drive significant illegal migration into Thailand, presenting traffickers opportunities to move victims into labor or sexual exploitation. Internal trafficking also occurs in Thailand, involving victims from Northern east part of Thailand, especially ethnic hill tribe women and girls. The lack of citizenship status for some hill tribe women and children was a strong risk factor for becoming victims of trafficking. For many cases of these practices, some social, cultural and political elements outside or within Thai present society itself have been supporting into their existence.

Chart I: The Pattern of Human Trafficking and

Sexual Slavery in Thailand

Source: Primary data gathered on the field research in Thailand, June 2007

In Burma for instance, the repression and ethnic cleansing carried out by military junta have been triggering many women and children to move into Thailand as traffickers and trapped into prostitution’s practices in Bangkok or other tourism places all over Thailand to have a better livelihood in situation of safely and comfortable to continue their life. Furthermore, many people are fleeing from Burma is also because of forced labor that found millions of people had been pressed into servitude by the military junta. Here is how it usually works, the military junta demands that a village provide a certain number of works for a certain period of time. “The workers are given no food, no money, and no tools. We are then forced to work on roads or farms for days, weeks, or months at a time. We are supervised by soldiers, and if we refuse to work we are often killed. Many die while working as we are severely beaten and tortured. Even worse, many are forced to carry or porter weapons for the military junta deep inside Burma, and a lot are used as “human mine sweepers”. These people are forced to walk in front of troops of the military junta to search for landmines.” (Plai, Women Burmese Traffickers, the interview has taken on June 12^th, 2007 at 2.50 pm at the Golden Triangle, borderland area between Thailand and Burma in Chiang Rai province). The people are treated like animals, and soldiers don’t hesitate to execute civilians without reason. Women are executed after being raped, and children are executed to teach a lesson to local villagers. For Burma’s military junta, life is cheap and easily expendable.

The other factor that has been supporting the existence of human trafficking and sexual slavery is also related to the Buddhist culture practices that are still embedded in Thai and Mekong’s present societies, particularly for those who live in the countryside. “In Buddhist cultures the debt owed to parents by children is deeply imbued into families, especially in the countryside where the idea of destiny is wholeheartedly embraced” (Chay, Chiang Rai Girl, the interview has taken on June 11^th, 2007 at 11.47am in Chiang Rai province). For instance, Prey Vang Province in Cambodia is one of the poorest regions. It is easy to cross from there into Thailand so each year thousands of children are trafficked across the border, often by parents. The idea of destiny is wholeheartedly embraced in Buddhist culture as the old pattern in Mekong society when the daughter of the family has to take a responsibility to pay back the debt that made by your parents or relatives. Therefore, the daughters in the Buddhist family have a double burden because they have to supply and get income for their family as well as to taking care her parents and younger sisters or brothers as a part of their responsibility as its mentioned in their holy bible. So, what the daughter does is such debt owed agreement made by your parents or relatives when they got into debt with the debtor. For many cases, for those who were not able to pay the debt due to be trapped into poverty, they will sell the daughter to the broker in the countryside who will bring them to the many legal and illegal brothels in Bangkok or many other tourism places in Thailand. Sometimes it is just greed that makes parents turn a blind eye to what they are letting their own children in for.

Disease, Imprisoned and Protection;

The Impacts of Free Sex Market in Thailand

Human trafficking and sexual slavery are not only illegal practices as an impact of globalization and capitalism but one more deteriorated are their impacts toward the victims themselves. In Thailand’s case, HIV/AIDS disease and imprisoned threaten are the two main largest impacts of trafficking and prostitution. On the other hand, although the government of Thailand has released many regulations and law to reduce such practices, but in fact, they are really difficult to be stop due to the protection from Thai police itself.

For many HIV/AIDS cases, all of the girls and women who had been trafficked were provided contraceptives by the brothel owners. It was clearly in the owners’ interest to ensure their workers did not get pregnant. Since most, if not all, had come to Thailand as virgins, they were most likely infected by their clients. The use of unsterilized needles when they were given birth control injections, treated for infections or tested for AIDS in the brothels may also have been a factor. The brothel owners are preventing the women and girls from negotiating the terms of sexual intercourse, denying them appropriate health care, failing to inform them about the risk of exposure to HIV/AIDS and failing to insist that the clients use condoms. As a result, they are exposing these women and girls to greatly increased risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. Clearly, the brothel owners are in a position to prevent the mental and bodily harm that resulting from practices, and they should be held criminally negligent for failing to do so.

The arrest of the Mekong’s trafficked women and girls as prostitutes, or more routinely, as illegal immigrants is not only discriminatory and without sound legal justification, but also is frequently carried out in clear violation of basic principles of due process as provided both in international norms and in Thailand’s Criminal Procedure Code. Even the minimal due process protection provided in the Immigration Act is regularly ignored. International law sets forth a variety of due process protection for persons who have been arrested or detained. These principles are set forth in a number of instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) article No.11 says that “No one shall be imprisoned merely on the ground of inability to fulfill a contractual obligation” and the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1988, However, Thailand has not yet acceded to the ICCPR.

Despite clear national and international prohibitions on procurement and trafficking, such practices are not only widespread in Thailand, but in many instances occur with the direct involvement of Thai police or border guards. Thai border and provincial police control all roads from Burma, Cambodia and Lao borders into Thailand, and several border checkpoints have been set up. It is extremely difficult for them to cross the border and travel any distance without the knowledge and involvement of the Thai police. In many instances, brothels are located next door to or down the street from local police stations. “I was fifteen years old when I was brought to a brothel in Thailand. I often saw policemen around the brothel all the time. At least every ten days a group of uniformed policemen would come to see the owner. Sometimes they took girls. Other times they just had tea with the brothel owner” (Nilar, Burmese Girl, the interview has taken on June 14th, 2007 at 1.20pm in Bangkok). In many cases, the brothel agents are well supplied with money to pay them off. Once the women and girls are in the Thai brothels the involvement of the police persists. Brothels routinely operate with police knowledge and often with the benefit of police protection, despite the clear prohibition on such establishments under the Anti Prostitution Act.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Sexual tourism generally is yet an other example of how the effects of globalization are not gender neutral. It arises out of a globalized economy that makes sex work one of the only ways for some women to earn a living wage. The rapidly expanding international sex market exploits above all women and children, especially members of marginal and minority groups in Thailand. This leisure industry is based on the systematic violation of human rights, for it requires a market in commodified human beings and the complicity of pimps and clients who are prepared to buy and sell women and children.

In Thailand, some workers in the sex industry choose their work as a survival strategy and an economic advancement strategy, particularly for those who live in the suffering of poverty circle in the countryside of Mekong region which is bordered by Thailand itself. Moreover, the Buddhist Culture is indirectly also supporting the existence of human trafficking and sexual slavery with its values of the idea of destiny that has been embedded and wholeheartedly belief as a part of sacrifice to the Buddha. On the other side, in particular reason of Burmese women and children who involved in these practices are inevitably caused by repression and various human rights violation implementation by Burmese military junta to their citizen, particularly women and children. Moreover, these practices are always exposed to significant health risks in the form of violence and disease, such HIV/AIDS.

The Thai government has taken some initial steps to reform domestic laws relevant to the issues addressed on these practices. It has also established a unit within the Crime Suppression Division of the police to deal with forced and child prostitution. But the legal efforts have stalled, and without the political will to prosecute the traffickers and fully protect the victims, the abuses against women and children are likely to continue.

None of the measures needed to stop human trafficking, sexual slavery and related abuses will take place without concerted international pressure. Therefore, one the most important things to reduce these practices are giving pressure to the Thai government that must come from countries like Japan and the United States which have close relations with Thailand as well as form the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which also have an interest in ending trafficking and sexual slavery. Furthermore, China, whose women are also being sold into Thai brothels, and from international organizations such as the United Nations have to take a responsibility and play a crucial role to stop these exploitation practices of human being commodification in Thailand and Mekong Region generally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

Bary, K. (1995), The Prostitution of Sexuality. New York: New York University Press.

Burn, Shawn Meghan (2005). Women Across Cultures; A Global Perspective. California: California Polytechnic State University

Inglis, Shelley Case (2005), Human Trafficking and Security. Costa Rica: Reading Materials of International Peace Studies at the University for Peace.

Malarek,Victor (1998), The Natashas: Inside the New Global Sex Trade. New York: The Haworth Press

Poulin, Richard (2003), Globalization and the Sex Trade: Trafficking and the Commodification of Women and Children. Canada: The Canadian Women Studies/Les cahiers de la femme Vol.22.

Website Sources:

Human Rights Watch (2004), Thailand: End Crackdown on Burmese Fleeing Abuses.   Retrieved Oct 14, 2007 from http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/02/25/thaila7656.htm.

Human Rights Watch (1993), A Modern Form of Slavery; Trafficking of Burmese Women and Girls into Brothels in Thailand. Retrieved Oct 12, 2007 from http://www.hrw.org/reports/1993/thailand/#_1_33

Human Trafficking.org (2005), Thailand Watch. Retrieved Oct 12, 2007 from www.human-trafficking.org

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Right (1976), International Covenant on Civil and Political Right. Retrieved Oct 7, 2007 from www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_ccpr.htm.

 

The Sacrifice of Development: Seba

 

 

 

The Sacrifice of Development: Seba
Novri Susan-Airlangga University

A paper for:Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Dietrich
University of Innsburck

(Her name is Seba from a slum village in one province of Indonesia. She was offered for an employment in Malaysia by agency worker with a good wage and other facilities. There was no a complicated requirement. Seba only needed to pay around 200$ as investment for travel cost and a short days training. Then, she was send to one part of Malaysia and worked in a building construction project. The overseer said “You will get your wage in every three months time”. After nine months, Seba has not received any money because “The director is still in a project negotiation, you will get it next month” said the overseer with glaring Seba. In the end of the tenth month, Seba was waiting for her right but in the afternoon the police came and caught her as an illegal migrant worker. Then, she was send back to Indonesia after getting imprisoned for several months without receiving any money except travel arrangement to get back home by Malaysian government. Seba now is “waiting for Godot[1]”)

(Imagined story from some Indonesian migrant worker stories)

The Sacrifice of Development: Seba

Introduction

Slavery in our contemporary society is a crime against humanity as the statement of slavery abolishment in the modern states. Even, there is a fact that slaves have been put into jail, got punishment from the law, and lose their rights as human beings. In my sense as an academician in social sciences, slavery is beyond the law’s interpretation. For instance in some cases, law is the defender of the crimes itself where people who serve their master unhappiness is accused as illegal workers and brought to a torture room. Slavery as a discourse perhaps will be interpreted in warring thoughts, its definition and context. In this paper, I intend to propose slavery in the capitalist development discourses since development has brought people into an uncertain future and a humanity flaming.

The development concept in our history usually is understood as the part of modernism’s narrative and the West capitalism-colonialism, even now the concept is more complex by many perspectives. Instantly in many cases, development project from the ancient kingdoms until the colonialism-post colonialism era always sacrifice people to pursue the goal of development. What many people have been amazed on the goal and the result of development namely an economic growth and luxurious buildings are only the surface of the development. If we look at to the deeper sides, the misdeed of development to many people will be appeared obviously in the form of slavery. Slavery has been created by the men’s image about glorious world with using their development narrative, from Pharaohs’ time in BCE to George Bush dominance in this 21^st century.

Base on the reality above, I came up with questions, in what process of the capitalist development has sacrificed the people as slaves? In order to support the question, I am going to start by undertaking a short historical review on slavery practices in order to understand the slavery concept in the ancient society and modern society. Then, I would go further to the discourses of slavery in capitalist development since 1930s up to now. In this session I want to reveal paradox of the capitalist development with its glory in the economic growth, industrialization and physical development. This paper is aimed to give a discourse about slavery in the capitalist development without taking a certain case although I will use the slavery issues from Brazil and Indonesia. To support this discourse, I will compile the secondary data from some literatures, research reports, and news papers.

Slavery: from the Ancient to Modern Society

Slave in English words come from the word of sclav in the Middle English language. Sclav rooted from the Medieval Latin sclavus which originates from the Late Greek sklabos. In the ancient kingdoms in Egypt, the slave was called as Hem (Hm) which has a meaning as body and property or a person who serve for certain duty to their master or god (Slavery, n.d.) whereas in Japan in the 3^rd century it was called seiko as a slave and nuhi in 8century. In Arabic language slave can be translated as ‘abd–budak (servant) or zenji (black). Before Islam enlightened the Arabic society in 5^th century, slavery system was established on a debt relation and punishment to the criminal.

ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) article number 8 defines slavery or servitude in an operational definition namely “forced or compulsory labour” (in OHCHR, n.d.). This definition basically views slavery as the work relation. In general, I define slavery is a forcefulness of the powerful people or group to the others for serving without giving rights of people to get a happiness. Then, the practices of slavery can be found in any social institutions where relation exists such as in a family, factory, agricultures, communities, and so forth.

In the case of communities’ relation, the slavery can be found in some cases of religious communities’ relation such Christian and Muslim. “Pope Nicholas V in 1452, as part of the fight against Islam, gave the Portuguese king the right to enslave people who were not Christian. This was used by the Portuguese to enslave Africans” (Spain’s Slavery Contract, n.d.). For the Portuguese, Pope’s appealing is a political legitimacy to enslave African people, sold them to British or the other colonial countries from Europe. The practices of slavery in this context also occurred during the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. Christians from Europe (slavs) were enslaved by the Ottoman’s king such as a manual worker in the kingdom’s military, harem’s guards, and so forth.

In the ancient societies, slavery was an institutionalized practice such in ancient Athens about 30% of the population consisted of slaves and in the Roman Empire is about 10-15% of the population. Slavery as a system can be seen in the Hammurabi’s law in Babylonia, or Hammurabi Code, in 1792–1750 BC (Khan Amore, 2002, p. 3). Before Hammurabi Code, the practice of slavery in our history also can be traced in the ancient society of Jericho. Jericho is a walled town in around 10,000 BCE where the settlers defeated the others people outside of the town and captured them as slaves. Slavery in the ancient society was often as the result of warfare. The conqueror, clan group or kingdom, brought the captives to their town as slaves in household, worker in military forces, agriculture and sex service.

Wilbur in his paper entitled Slavery in China during the Former Han Dynasty (1967) described how the ancient China empires, Han’s dynasty in 206 BC, used an administration based on slavery system to operate the palace’s activities, to sustain a feudal economic system, and military works. The great wall is the part of military work in China where hundred thousands people were abused as slaves. This slavery system also was adopted by the royal family or rich family in China to serve the family’s activities.

The practices of slavery still continue after the enlightenment in Europe has born modernism and the industrial revolutions with a capitalist system. Enslavement during this period is especially to support the mass production of the capitalism system. In the agriculture sectors such as cotton, sugar canes and spices are the sector where slaves do work involuntary. The worker during the beginning of industrial revolution got a low wage which made they were not able to suffice their needs. The expanding of industrialization, market demands, raw material needs, and their religious spirit, then have encouraged Western countries to colonize many areas of the world. Western colonialism, then as the part of the capitalism expansion, in many areas around the world has enslaved the local people in any sectors.

Based on Marx’s criticism during the industrialization Europe and America, capitalism is the system that reproduces the slavery system from feudal age to the modern capitalism society. He looks at the production relations in the mode of production of capitalism where proletariat is exploited. It is caused proletariat is treat as a property in the mode of production of capitalism (Marx, 1932, n.p.), as well as Hem in the Ancient Egypt. Like in the other social systems, Marx viewed (in Lawrence, 1976, n.p.) the slavery in contemporary society is as a system with “a dynamic rise as productive forces developed, trailed by stagnation, descent and depose”.

Slavery is the dark side of humanity’s history, from the Pharaoh’s kingdom in Egypt to the temple of inauguration Aztec in Mexico, from the Roman Empire to Ottoman Empire, and from industrial revolution in Western countries to the world development today. The slavery also became a social system in the ancient society where slaves were caused by debt, punishment, voluntary servitude, war, by birth, and capture (Slavery, n.d.). At a glance, the slaves in the ancient society were placed in the project of development for building constructions of the kingdom, domestic workers in a royal or rich family, and agriculture activities such in sugar cane plantations or cotton. In the context of industrial society, the slavery takes a same pattern from the practices of slavery in the ancient society even in a different social system. In our industrial society slaves are the sacrifice of development’s narrative with its slogan; gold, gospel, and glory.[2]

Slavery for the Glory of Development

The abolishment of slavery system in modern society which carried out by UK, USA, French, and Portuguese in 19^th century does not mean the practice of slavery has been erupted.[3] Many governments claim the practice of slavery is an illegal practice. However, I want to interpret the meaning of illegal practice here is the way of ‘development’ wash hands from their crime in slavery. Before going on to this discourse, I want to quote the work of Wallerstein (2004) in uncovering the fact behind ‘development’. In 1900, as Wallerstein testified the idea of development has been proposed by the French Ministry of Colonies through a book entitled Les colonies françaises:la mise en valeur de notre domaine coloniale. Mise en valeur in the dictionary is translated as “development” or “développement in French language. Furthermore Wallerstein uses the Les Usuels de Robert: Dictionnaire des Expressions et Locutions figurées (1979) viewed that “mettre en valeur” meaning is “to exploit, draw profit from” (2004, p.1). This political history of development then got its legitimacy from modernism concept and three ‘G’ slogan by which European exploited and draw profit from their colonies in Africa, India, Asia, and Latin America. The fact, slavery abolishment is in the legal level but it exists in a softer term, namely ‘development’.

During the colonial era, local people in the colonies area were forced to realize this development project. In Asia, such Indonesia, the Dutch colonial enslaved local people for working unpaid in plantations, road project, and household servants. The most popular slavery system in Indonesia by the colonial Dutch is culture stelsel (forced work) which forced the local people to work in the colonial development project such railroad construction and government buildings. Millions local people were suffering in this period and millions were death because they did not get health service and logistic needs. Kristanto (2003) pointed out that sistem Tanam paksa (forced plants system) also the part of slavery system during the Dutch colonialism where local people had to plant a certain plant for the Dutch to fulfill the market demands in Europe especially pepper, clove and any kind of spices.

This development pragmatically was purposed to support capitalism system in West countries. During the cold war era the project of development was resurrected by USA for the third world countries after the success of this approach in solving great depression of economy in USA. The development resurrection in the ‘post-colonial’ has created a new perspective in achieving national wealth, then it is famous as developmentalism. In Latin America this concept is named as “desarollismo” or “cepalismo” and in Indonesia is pembangunanisme. Politically, developmentalism is purposed to be a development alternative concept from the socialism of USSR during the cold war.

Developmentalism as the lovechild of capitalism system and modernism has a blue print of the social change to reach what Rostow called as the steps of economic growth. In achieving Rostow goals, government should consistence in implementing the blue print of economic development through a cultural transformation, natural resources exploitation, and industrializations (see Rostow, 1960). Natural resources exploitation and industrialization have pushed an amazing national economic growth in some third world countries such as in Indonesia during 1980s with 6-7% of economic growth and Brazil during 1930s-1970s. This amazing economic growth is the glory of economic development. However, behind of this amazing economic growth is the groan of millions people who are suffering under the developmental process as slaves. To reach Rostow’s non communistic manifesto (1960), millions people do work unpaid involuntary or they are paid by a low wage in any sectors.

During the 1930s to 1970s in Brazil, huge slums grew in the mushrooming cities. The program of modernization in Brazilian’s development has encouraged the modern techniques of farms into Amazon and needed many laborers. The development process in reaching economic growth collaborates with capitalism values have subjected laborers as property. The laborers then work without feeling secure under the low wage and tight watching from the overseers.

Now, it is estimated that 25.000 and 40.000 laborers working analogues with slavery in Brazil. The main activities for that slavery are “ranching (43 per cent), deforestation (28 per cent), agriculture (24 per cent), logging (4 per cent) and charcoal (1 per cent)” (Bhavna Sharma, 2006, p. 4). This number of slaves is the prop of development process in Brazil even legally the government does not acknowledge this slavery practice. According to ABC News (July 4 2007) Brazilian government’s anti slavery has freed 1000 slaves from their nightmare in the slavery’s camp in the sugar cane plantation of the northern state of Para. Why does the government only free 1000 slaves when they have a big authority to free all slaves?

At the same time when development has enslaved a lot of people, according to Bresser-Pereira (2006, p. 16) Brazil still relies on the development approach that now is called as ‘new developmentalism’.

What happen in this Brazil story has the same pattern with the case in Asian countries such as in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and India. The industrialization and development in Malaysia need many workers to realize the project. The sub-contractor, as exist in Brazil, needs a cheap worker to support the development projects such as in industries, plantations area, and construction projects. Hundred thousands migrant worker from Indonesia and the Philippines are analogue with slavery. In 2004 (KOMPAS, July 16 2004) approximately there were 400.000 illegal Indonesian workers in Malaysia which is a lot of them still have not got their wages.

Both Malaysian and Indonesian government look at the legal perspective to handle the problem of slaves. They do not consider the aspect of humanity and crimes behind the illegal status of the worker. The government has ignored that illegal workers have been enslaved for their development projects. Law, then, is only possible to judge and to punish the slaves as illegal workers, then put them to jail after flagellating them. Law is not able to bring them into ‘humanity justice’, at this point I see law is an instrument of “mettre en valeur”. As in the telling story of Seba, who is ‘waiting for godot’.

India is the new amazing economic growth, together with China, in this 21^st century which new glorious buildings in the capitol city and some other big cities, and industrialization in agriculture and manufacture. Even according to Hales (1999) there were 20 millions debt bondages in India who work for building constructions project, agricultures, and industries. I believe that in many places where the development is embraced by a state, slavery become the prop of development’s goal.

Disbelieve to Development but Peace in Nature

Developments for Pharaohs’ pyramid, Han dynasty’s project on the great wall, and until the world development of the West countries for the third world are “mettre en valeur”. Even in the modern society slavery has been acknowledged as a crime against humanity, the character of “mettre en valeur” make slavery has been existing nowadays. The existence of slavery in the modern society is a resonance of capitalist development’s narrative which is still trusted by many countries to realize human’s image about their glory. When Seba has been enslaved by the developmental project, the state accused Seba as a law violator. Actually, the state has violated humanity’s justice by using their law. I belief the state’s violation on slaves is purposed to protect the development stability as in discourses above. In this level, how can we believe to the world development since it is a “mettre en valeur”?

I think our world does not need development anymore but recognition. Recognition to what people need for their peace in their lands, in their world, and in their dream about a happiness, it is about their feeling. State should come to the people without development but this recognition and protection of their rights to appear their concept about wealthy. Dietrich and Sützl (1997) called this recognition as “many peaces”. Peace as a concept of human’s vision about their happiness and glory should not be brought into the claim of single concept of capitalist development but into their feelings.

 

 

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[1] “Waiting for Godot” is Samuel Becket’s drama where people looking for uncertain answers in the chaotic world. I see slaves, in any realms, also looking for their free and rights but there is a grand narrative of evil who dispose their hopes.

[2] Gold, gospel, and glory as the fundamental West’s legitimacy for their cruelness during colonialism era is defended by some Western scholars who still stay with their prominently belief that West people and its Christianity through colonialism has enlightened the world. This belief do not care, in instance, with what African people felt with about devastated identity and future when the colonial put them as commodity in slaves market. This belief can be seen through Peter Salemi’s paper entitled The Pride of Our Power: British Colonialism (n.d.).

[3] Slavery Abolition Act, passed on August 23 1833, outlawed slavery itself in the British colonies, in USA slavery was abolished with the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in the United States in 1865 after a horrific loss of about 600,000 lives, France abolished slavery in 1848, and Portugal abolished slavery in its overseas territories in 1869. US and UK created Sierra Leone and Liberia were established for former slaves of the British Empire and United States respectively see in http://www.lonympics.co.uk/slavery.htm.