IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rjbsxx/v37y2022i3p475-492.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Timescapes in Public Policy – Constructing the “Victim of Trafficking”

Author

Listed:
  • James Tangen

Abstract

Human trafficking is presented as a multidimensional problem, constituted by a complex matrix of borders, vertices and spaces. In spite of the agreement of an international definition of trafficking in human beings some 20 years ago, debates persist about what constitutes human trafficking. The malleability of the concepts within this definition undermines efforts to provide clarity to front-line professionals and the wider public about how to recognize individuals as potential victims, and what rights should be afforded to them (O’Connell Davidson 2013). This paper interrogates the role of time and temporality in the construction of individuals as in/eligible for the status of “Victim of Trafficking.” Adam’s (1998) approach to time as a multidimensional phenomenon, constituted by timeframes, temporality, sequences, tempo, timeliness, and temporal modalities structures the paper, and a case study of R v N [2012] EWCA Crim 189 is used to illustrate the discussion. Consideration is given to the differentiation of offenders from victims and the discrete phases of processing individuals through the criminal justice system. Across all of these categories and the borders between them, time shapes the decision of street-level bureaucrats to construct a complex, multi-layered understanding of efforts to tackle human trafficking in England and Wales.

Suggested Citation

  • James Tangen, 2022. "Timescapes in Public Policy – Constructing the “Victim of Trafficking”," Journal of Borderlands Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 475-492, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjbsxx:v:37:y:2022:i:3:p:475-492
    DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2020.1787189
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08865655.2020.1787189
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/08865655.2020.1787189?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rjbsxx:v:37:y:2022:i:3:p:475-492. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rjbs20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.