Enjeux de la définition juridique de l’esclavage contemporain au Brésil : liberté, dignité et droits constitutionnels

Abstract

This article discusses the definition of modern slavery adopted by Brazilian law, tracing its origins from inspections in the interior of the country in the mid-1990s. The inspection reports produced by teams of labor auditors document the subjection of workers to “degrading conditions,” and “exhausting work days,” expressions of modern slavery that do not involve direct restrictions on workers’ freedom. The main criticism of the concept adopted by Brazilian legislation, built around the idea of human dignity, holds that it departs from a supposedly authentic definition of slavery, and that the use of imprecise terms trivializes the phenomenon. This article argues that such criticisms are unfounded, that terms like “degrading working conditions” and “exhausting hours” are not inherently problematic, and that extensive institutional practices established over the last two decades allow for a consistent application of the current definition.

Keywords

• modern slavery
• human dignity
• Brazil
• degrading working conditions
• exhausting work days
• 20th-21st centuries