PSC 337—Human Trafficking

Following passage of the Palermo Protocol, human trafficking has received enormous global attention. Drawing on research from political science, economics, sociology, psychology, and anthropology, this course provides a broad survey of our current understanding of human trafficking. We will seek to understand the causes and consequences of trafficking for both the individuals that are trafficked and for broader society. Although we will spend time reading about, and discussing individual cases and countries where trafficking occurs, our goal is to develop a better understanding of the systematic conditions that lead to trafficking and the impact it has. The course is organized around several broad explanatory themes. We begin by defining what trafficking is and connecting it to broader understandings of human rights, including women’s rights. We will then discuss how we apply the social scientific approach to the study of human trafficking, with specific attention to observing and measuring trafficking. We then turn to several substantive topics. This includes the economic, political, and transnational factors that push and pull people into trafficking. More specifically, we will look at the role that economic development, international economic flows, political institutions, civil society actors, international law, conflict, and climate change play in trafficking processes. You will leave this course with a better understanding of what trafficking is, what causes it, and who in society is most vulnerable to it. You will also leave this course in a better position to develop an advocacy campaign for trafficking issue, but also for other issues that you might be interested in.