Lecture with Professor Jean Allain: the Evolution of the Int'l Anti-Trafficking Framework
31 October 2024, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm
Professor Jean Allain's lecture will focus on the deception which has beleaguered the development of what is today called human trafficking.
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
Institute of Advanced Studies
Location
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IAS Common Ground (G11)ground floor, South Wing, Wilkins BuildingÏã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø, Gower St, LondonWC1E 6BTUnited Kingdom
The Evolution of the International Anti-Trafficking Framework: The Hermeneutics of Deception
This presentation brings together Professor Jean Allain’s Leverhulme Lecture series focusing on the deception which has beleaguered the development of what is today called human trafficking. From its source: 1) in the emergence of campaign to end State-regulated prostitution by Victorian women led by Josephine Butler; through its origins: 2) brought on by the 1885 Maiden Tribute to Modern Babylon scandal; to the League of Nations which: 3) took hold of the white slave traffic regime on the basis of collusion; only later: 4) to reconceptualise it behind closed doors; – each moment, in its own way, bears witness to crises in testimony. In these instances, fundamental to the DNA of anti-trafficking, a gap between voluntary testimony meant for public consumption, and statements – in private deliberation and in court documents – made ‘in spite of themselves’, revealing wilful deception.
How then to interpret the international anti-trafficking framework, built on such shaky ground, its foundations of such weak timber, its framework of such questionable design? In this presentation, Professor Allain returns to first principles: to hermeneutics – the art or science of interpretation – to seek to both understand and to salvage the kernel of original intent of anti-trafficking from its evolutionary means.
All welcome, no registration required.
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About the Speaker
Jean Allain
Leverhulme Visiting Professor at Rights Lab of the University of Nottingham
Jean Allain is also Professor of International Law and Associate Dean International at Monash University, Extraordinary Professor with the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa, and Adjunct Professor with the Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia. His published works include The Law and Slavery, The Legal Understanding of Slavery, and Slavery in International Law. He led the development of the Bellagio Harvard Guidelines on the Legal Parameters of Slavery, which have clarified the legal definition of slavery in international law. His Leverhulme Visiting Professorship is focused on the evolution of the international anti-trafficking framework and on working with early-career researchers in the UK on their own projects.