Overview

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the anti–human trafficking movement have proliferated over the past few decades, each focusing on different aspects of the problem. Many of these NGOs have joined coalitions to pool resources and expertise. What are the messages that NGOs use to define and prescribe solutions to the human trafficking issue? How do changes in the external political environment or the internal coalition structure impact NGO framing strategy? This book uses a unique dataset to illustrate and analyze the discursive processes of NGOs over three distinct time periods: 2008–2010, 2011–2012, and 2013–2014. The data was gathered from public documents and supplemented by interviews from fifteen US anti-trafficking NGOs involved in the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST). This analysis shows that the ATEST coalition has targeted the state (contentious politics) and private industry (private politics) to advance its antihuman trafficking agenda. Sex trafficking has normally been met with tactics from the contentious politics model due to its historical legal connection with prostitution; labor trafficking, on the other hand, has been approached via the private politics model due to its connection with business. However, due to the coalition’s formal organizational structure, members have been able to learn from each other and adopt tactics normally reserved for certain types of targets in new ways, such as using contentious political strategies for labor trafficking and vice versa. This study builds theory by showing how coalition learning in social movements across time periods can diffuse tactics and provide new action repertoires for coalition members.

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9781498586252

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This meticulously researched and well-written book offers a timely investigation into the pressing global problem of human trafficking. Through a sophisticated multi-method analysis of the evolution of the core organizations fighting human trafficking, we learn a great deal about the framing strategies, tactics, outcomes and coalitional dynamics of this particular movement industry. This tour de force should be read by organizational and social movement scholars alike, as well as by policy-makers working on human trafficking. -- Sarah A. Soule, Stanford University Framing the Fight against Human Trafficking provides a rare and fascinating look at the range of organizations engaged in the fight against human trafficking. Dr. Clark studies the leading US coalition focused on the issue, the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), and its organizational members. By adopting a relatively narrow strategic focus while avoiding narrow ideological commitments, the Alliance has managed to endure and grow with a diverse set of organizational members. She demonstrates that this unique coalition has been able not only to achieve remarkable success (e.g., all 50 states now have anti-trafficking policies), but also to help member organizations. The diverse organizations involved in the coalition, some focused on sex trafficking and others on labor trafficking, some on international and others on domestic trafficking, have shared strategies and tactics with one another, expanding their strategic repertoires. The book skillfully employs research and scholarship on social movements and coalitions to demonstrate how coalitions can succeed, and how organizations can learn new framing and tactical strategies from coalition partners. This is the definitive book on the anti-human trafficking movement and will be of interest to policy-makers, scholars interested in social movements and public policy, and the general public. -- Nella Van Dyke, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Merced

This meticulously researched and well-written book offers a timely investigation into the pressing global problem of human trafficking. Through a sophisticated multi-method analysis of the evolution of the core organizations fighting human trafficking, we learn a great deal about the framing strategies, tactics, outcomes and coalitional dynamics of this particular movement industry. This tour de force should be read by organizational and social movement scholars alike, as well as by policy-makers working on human trafficking. -- Sarah A. Soule, Stanford University

Author Information

Amanda D. Clark, PhD, is independent scholar.

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