Underpaid and unrecognized : state-induced unfree labour / Katie Bales, Amir Paz-Fuchs

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bales, Katie, author.

Paz-Fuchs, Amir, 1971- author.

Series:

Oxford labour law

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Unpaid labor--Great Britain--Case studies.

Unpaid labor.

Convict labor--Great Britain.

Convict labor.

Internship programs--Great Britain.

Internship programs.

Noncitizen detention centers--Great Britain.

Noncitizen detention centers.

Welfare recipients--Employment--Great Britain.

Welfare recipients.

Unpaid labor--Great Britain.

Welfare recipients--Employment.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : illustrations

Other Title:

State-induced unfree labour

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, [2026]

Summary:

"This book examines a growing yet overlooked sector of workers whose labour is characterized as ‘informal’ due to limited or lack of access to labour rights and protections despite being initiated, organized, and regulated by the state. Focusing on prison workers, workfare participants, immigration detainees, and interns, the book argues that these forms of labour constitute a system of state-organized ‘unfree’ labour that benefits both public authorities and private corporations. Rather than existing outside state oversight, these labour relations are actively produced through intersecting regimes of welfare, immigration, criminal justice, and labour market policy.Using a socio-legal and jurisprudential approach, the book interrogates how and why these workers are formally denied recognition as ‘employees’ or ‘workers’. It explores the boundaries between free and unfree labour, analysing the structural conditions and coercive pressures that compel individuals to accept exploitative work. The book also addresses the broader political economy of privatized state functions and their reliance on cheap, unregulated labour. Finally, it advances legal, institutional, and collective strategies to reduce exploitation, including reconceptualizing work and worker status, expanding labour rights, and securing basic needs beyond the wage–work bargain"-- Oxford Academic

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (Oxford Academic, viewed June 24, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Bales, Katie Underpaid and unrecognized

ISBN:

9780197910467

0197910467

9780197910450

0197910459

OCLC:

1591408965

Publisher Number:

CIPO000391864

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license