IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v179y2022i3d10.1007_s10551-021-04845-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Modern Slavery and the Discursive Construction of a Propertied Freedom: Evidence from Australian Business

Author

Listed:
  • Edward Wray-Bliss

    (Macquarie University Business School)

  • Grant Michelson

    (Macquarie University Business School)

Abstract

This paper examines the ethics of the Australian business community’s responses to the phenomenon of modern slavery. Engaging a critical discourse approach, we draw upon a data set of submissions by businesses and business representatives to the Australian government’s Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade ‘Parliamentary Inquiry into Establishing a Modern Slavery Act in Australia’—which preceded the signing into law of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018—to examine the business community’s discursive construction in their submissions of the ethical–political concept of freedom. The paper shows how the concept of freedom was employed by Australian business in a manner that privileged their own subject status and advocated for legislation with minimal burden. Relating this contemporary case to a longer historical context, we show how Australian business responses towards modern slavery map onto liberal and neoliberal ethics in which the freedom of the propertied takes precedent over that of the property-less. Further, we show discursive similarities in the arguments presented by modern Australian businesses and certain historical efforts by members of the business community to privilege commercial freedoms in responses to 18th and 19th Century abolitionist movements. Overall, our research makes two important contributions: first, it highlights the value of a critical discourse lens in business ethics research to show how business and other stakeholders in the field construct and shape their own and other’s ethically-laden understanding of reality; and second, it presents a case for considerable scepticism about the motivation of (Australian) business to employ the freedoms made available to it under neo/liberal discourse to confront a key human rights challenge.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward Wray-Bliss & Grant Michelson, 2022. "Modern Slavery and the Discursive Construction of a Propertied Freedom: Evidence from Australian Business," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(3), pages 649-663, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:179:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-021-04845-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-021-04845-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-021-04845-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-021-04845-w?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.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Katherine Leanne Christ & Kathyayini Kathy Rao & Roger Leonard Burritt, 2019. "Accounting for modern slavery: an analysis of Australian listed company disclosures," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(3), pages 836-865, April.
    2. Roberts, John, 2001. "Corporate Governance and the Ethics of Narcissus," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 109-127, January.
    3. Andrew Smith & Jennifer Johns, 2020. "Historicizing Modern Slavery: Free-Grown Sugar as an Ethics-Driven Market Category in Nineteenth-Century Britain," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 271-292, October.
    4. Carolyn Dunn & Michelle Eble, 2015. "Giving Voice to the Silenced: Using Critical Discourse Analysis to Inform Crisis Communication Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(4), pages 717-735, December.
    5. Lilie Chouliaraki & Norman Fairclough, 2010. "Critical Discourse Analysis in Organizational Studies: Towards an Integrationist Methodology," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(6), pages 1213-1218, September.
    6. Harvey, David, 2007. "A Brief History of Neoliberalism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199283279.
    7. Peter Hamilton & Tom Redman & Robert McMurray, 2019. "‘Lower than a Snake’s Belly’: Discursive Constructions of Dignity and Heroism in Low-Status Garbage Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(4), pages 889-901, June.
    8. Xiaorui Wang, 2019. "The National Ecological Accounting and Auditing Scheme as an Instrument of Institutional Reform in China: A Discourse Analysis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 587-603, February.
    9. Nicolas Dahan & Milton Gittens, 2010. "Business and the public Affairs of Slavery: A Discursive Approach of an Ethical Issue," Post-Print hal-00563588, HAL.
    10. Tomi Kallio, 2007. "Taboos in Corporate Social Responsibility Discourse," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(2), pages 165-175, August.
    11. Salla Laasonen & Martin Fougère & Arno Kourula, 2012. "Dominant Articulations in Academic Business and Society Discourse on NGO–Business Relations: A Critical Assessment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(4), pages 521-545, September.
    12. SINCLAIR, Amy & NOLAN, Justine, 2020. "Modern Slavery Laws in Australia: Steps in the Right Direction?," Business and Human Rights Journal, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 164-170, January.
    13. Phillips, Nicola. & LeBaron, Genevieve. & Wallin, Sara., 2018. "Mapping and measuring the effectiveness of labour-related disclosure requirements for global supply chains," ILO Working Papers 995008793002676, International Labour Organization.
    14. Nicolas Dahan & Milton Gittens, 2010. "Business and the Public Affairs of Slavery: A Discursive Approach of an Ethical Public Issue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(2), pages 227-249, March.
    15. Bill Cooke, 2003. "The Denial of Slavery in Management Studies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 1895-1918, December.
    16. Bernhard Mark-Ungericht & Richard Weiskopf, 2007. "Filling the Empty Shell. The Public Debate on CSR in Austria as a Paradigmatic Example of a Political Discourse," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 70(3), pages 285-297, February.
    17. Rachel N. Birkey & Ronald P. Guidry & Mohammad Azizul Islam & Dennis M. Patten, 2018. "Mandated Social Disclosure: An Analysis of the Response to the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 827-841, October.
    18. Haseeb Shabbir & Michael R. Hyman & Dianne Dean & Stephan Dahl, 2020. "‘Freedom Through Marketing’ Is Not Doublespeak," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 227-241, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gabriela Gutierrez-Huerter O & Stefan Gold & Alexander Trautrims, 2023. "Change in Rhetoric but not in Action? Framing of the Ethical Issue of Modern Slavery in a UK Sector at High Risk of Labor Exploitation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 35-58, January.
    2. Kristian Alm & David S. A. Guttormsen, 2023. "Enabling the Voices of Marginalized Groups of People in Theoretical Business Ethics Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 303-320, January.
    3. Tantawy Moussa & Amir Allam & Mahmoud Elmarzouky, 2022. "Global modern slavery and sustainable development goals: Does institutional environment quality matter?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2230-2244, July.
    4. Arno Kourula & Guillaume Delalieux, 2016. "The Micro-level Foundations and Dynamics of Political Corporate Social Responsibility: Hegemony and Passive Revolution through Civil Society," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(4), pages 769-785, June.
    5. Ivan Bozhikin & Nikolay Dentchev, 2018. "Discovering a Wilderness of Regulatory Mechanisms for Corporate Social Responsibility: Literature Review," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 2, pages 145-174, June.
    6. Pasi Heikkurinen & Jukka Mäkinen, 2018. "Synthesising Corporate Responsibility on Organisational and Societal Levels of Analysis: An Integrative Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 589-607, May.
    7. Bruce Pinnington & Amy Benstead & Joanne Meehan, 2023. "Transparency in Supply Chains (TISC): Assessing and Improving the Quality of Modern Slavery Statements," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(3), pages 619-636, January.
    8. Valeria Cavotta & Guido Palazzo & Antonino Vaccaro, 2023. "Mobilizing After Corporate Environmental Irresponsibility in a Community of Place: A Framing Microprocess Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(4), pages 1155-1169, February.
    9. Emma Bell & Nik Winchester & Edward Wray-Bliss, 2021. "Enchantment in Business Ethics Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(2), pages 251-262, November.
    10. Perkiss, Stephanie & Bernardi, Cristiana & Dumay, John & Haslam, Jim, 2021. "A sticky chocolate problem: Impression management and counter accounts in the shaping of corporate image," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. Nicolas Dahan & Jonathan Doh & Jonathan Raelin, 2015. "Pivoting the Role of Government in the Business and Society Interface: A Stakeholder Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 665-680, October.
    12. Madina Rival & Richard Major, 2018. "What Lobbying Ethics and What for? The Case of French Lobbying Consulting Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 99-116, June.
    13. Else, Tim & Choudhary, Sonal & Genovese, Andrea, 2022. "Uncovering sustainability storylines from dairy supply chain discourse," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 858-874.
    14. Doh, Jonathan P. & Dahan, Nicolas M. & Casario, Michelle, 2022. "MNEs and the practice of international business diplomacy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1).
    15. Howard Stein, 2012. "The Neoliberal Policy Paradigm and the Great Recession," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 59(4), pages 421-440, September.
    16. Jamie Redman, 2020. "The Benefit Sanction: A Correctional Device or a Weapon of Disgust?," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 25(1), pages 84-100, March.
    17. Grzegorz W. Kolodko, 2009. "A Two-thirds Rate of Success: Polish Transformation and Economic Development, 1989-2008," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-14, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Andrew Crookston, 2012. "Thomas J. Bassett and Alex Winter-Nelson: The atlas of world hunger," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 29(2), pages 277-278, June.
    19. Cohen, Joseph N, 2010. "Neoliberalism’s relationship with economic growth in the developing world: Was it the power of the market or the resolution of financial crisis?," MPRA Paper 24527, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Yang Shen, 2015. "Why Does the Government Fail to Improve the Living Conditions of Migrant Workers in Shanghai? Reflections on the Policies and the Implementations of Public Rental Housing under Neoliberalism," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(1), pages 58-74, January.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:179:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-021-04845-w. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.