Assistant Professor Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick has written a fascinating article for the most recent issue of the European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology. Austin explains that the article brings together two things that he’s been interested in for a long time: American politics and religion.
“I think we are in the middle of a historic fourth wave to end slavery,” Austin notes. “In each of these waves, evangelical Christians have played pivotal roles in both framing this issue and in getting it onto the national and international agenda. Plenty of academics have said plenty of things about this community, but surprisingly, very few have actually written their pieces after talking to evangelicals themselves. I think religion is really a cultural practice, and the deep commitment people bring to their religious convictions can't help but play itself out in policy and politics. So, it makes sense to me to just go talk to people about their beliefs, and take their answers seriously. That is what I‘ve tried to do.”
In his article, Austin argues that contemporary evangelicals view “individuals involved in trafficking as victims of individual exploitation and in need of (secular) salvation….” This belief in a salvation schema is a “deeply held and relatively stable” way to view emancipation and slavery and informs their recommendations for ending slavery by providing emergency rescue services. Austin supports his argument with qualitative analysis of survey responses from six congregations.
Austin’s other work on human trafficking and slavery can be found in a forthcoming article in the Journal of Human Rights as well as a co-edited volume From Human Trafficking to Human Rights: Reframing Contemporary Slavery (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012, with Alison Brysk).