Unfree agency - victim vulnerability and the unwitting reproduction of modern slavery in business

Hasan, MN ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9307-1769, 2026. Unfree agency - victim vulnerability and the unwitting reproduction of modern slavery in business. Business and Society. ISSN 0007-6503 (Forthcoming)

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Abstract

In this article, I challenge prevailing assumptions in modern slavery research by addressing an uncomfortable question: Under what conditions do systems of exploitation become self-reinforcing through the constrained choices available to those subjected to them? I extend the concept of unfree agency to show how survival-driven actions can unintentionally stabilise exploitative arrangements. Drawing on vulnerability theory, Sen’s (1999) account of unfreedoms, and debates on labour agency and moral complicity, I develop a framework linking structural vulnerability, constrained choices, normalisation, unwitting reproduction, and the persistence of exploitation. The article contributes to modern slavery scholarship by connecting micro-level coping practices to the macro-level reproduction of exploitation, and to business ethics debates by refining how consent and responsibility should be understood under coercion. I call for a liberation ethics perspective that evaluates business and policy responses according to whether they expand the substantive freedoms and capabilities of those with the least agency.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Business and Society
Creators:	Hasan, M.N.
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Date:	1 April 2026
ISSN:	0007-6503
Identifiers:	Number Type 2604662 Other
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	14 Apr 2026 14:19
Last Modified:	14 Apr 2026 14:19
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/55553

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