Unbroken Chains

The Hidden Role of Human Trafficking in the American Economy

By: Melissa Ditmore

Narrated by: Jenni Wilson

An urgent exposition of the pervasive human trafficking that lies just beneath the surface of the US economy—from the stories of its survivors

The years of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought to light the exploitation of workers. In this moment of heightened visibility, Unbroken Chains demands that listeners examine the hidden sector of American trafficked labor and understand its prevalence across our economy.

Drawing from nearly two decades of research on US and international human trafficking, Melissa Hope Ditmore sets forth the harrowing stories of human trafficking survivors and grounds their accounts in the long history of US indentured servitude, looking to its iterations in chattel slavery, Chinese contract labor, and prison labor. In this groundbreaking investigation of American trafficking, Ditmore unveils the unnerving reality that forced labor permeates many industries beyond sex work: in almost every aspect of consumption, people who create our everyday necessities are working amid inescapable exploitation, often without pay.
Unbroken Chains tells these workers’ stories: They are nannies for New York City’s diplomatic elites and door-to-door magazine salespeople in the American South. A trafficked person may have harvested your produce, sewn your clothes, or cleaned your apartment lobby. Ditmore offers listeners an illuminating window on the world of forced labor, which exists within our own, and a road map for participating in its destruction.

©2023 Melissa Ditmore (P)2023 Beacon Press

Critic reviews

“This searing exposé reveals the dark underbelly of the US economy . . . Knowledgable, empathetic, and impassioned, Ditmore is an expert tour guide through this harrowing landscape. Readers will be moved to take action.” —Publishers Weekly

“A thoughtful, well-written account of the many forms of forced and fraudulent labor that operate in the United States today. It positions sex trafficking within a larger pattern of forced labor, exposing how authorities overpolice sex work while tending to ignore coercive labor outside of prostitution. . . . As important, it details a vivid set of life histories of survivors who go on to fight exploitative businesses and to demand justice.” —Judith Walkowitz, author of City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London

“Unbroken Chains is essential reading for anyone interested in racial capitalism, fair labor, and victim self-advocacy. Melissa Ditmore’s clear-eyed analysis cuts through the sensationalistic media images of young white girls forced into prostitution to expose the truth about human trafficking. She shows us that it’s a form of extreme labor exploitation rooted in the institution of American slavery, whose unresolved legacy continues to shape our present-day labor laws, particularly in the realms of domestic and agricultural work. Ditmore convincingly argues that we must stop criminalizing victims of human trafficking and instead fight for policies that empower them.” —Grace Cho, author of the National Book Award finalist Tastes Like War