Free-not free. Faces of enslavement in contemporary Europe

Abstract

Despite the decline of historical, institutional forms of slavery, contemporary slavery remains one of the key challenges of European societies in the 21st century. Human trafficking, forced labour, child exploitation, and forced prostitution are striking examples of violations of human freedom. At the same time, alongside these undisputed and widely documented forms of slavery in the literature on the subject, other – non-obvious and hidden – manifestations of enslavement are developing and gaining momentum. The author argues that although this position is not common in public and scientific discourse, consumerism, debt, dependence on information technology, and the influence of ideological pressure can have a destructive impact on human life and that these phenomena can be considered in terms of subordination and limitation of individual autonomy. In this context, the article also raises the question of the ethical limits of progress in the modern world.