Alternative paths: The Business and Modern Slavery Research Conference 2024

10-11 September 2024

小蓝视频, Brighton

murmeration of starlings over the old, West Pier at sunset

 

The 2024 Business and Modern Slavery Research Conference will take place on Tuesday 10th & Wednesday 11th September in-person at Bramber House on the 小蓝视频 campus in Falmer, Brighton, East 小蓝视频 BN1 9RH. This conference is co-organised by the 小蓝视频 Business School and . 

Call for papers

Submissions to the conference have now closed.

Abusive labour practices and the business systems that produce, accentuate, and shelter them are increasingly exercising policymakers around the world. As this trend has grown, both scholars and industry experts have undertaken research which is broad in scope, transcending disciplinary boundaries, and offers insights into management practices and working conditions. This conference brings together researchers in the growing research community from across business disciplines to develop ongoing work and build links with peers towards future endeavours, offering a mixture of in-depth analysis and a platform to discuss alternative paths on topics related to modern slavery. 

Conference topics

The conference will address the following themes:

  • supply chain responsibility
  • accountability and reporting
  • strategy, ethics and social responsibility
  • marketing and consumer behaviour
  • technology and operations
  • innovation and entrepreneurship
  • finance and investment
  • legal and public policy issues governing business
  • modern slavery

Keynote Speaker: Dr Lara Bianchi

Profile photo of Dr Lara Bianchi

Lara is an Associate Professor in Business and Society at Nottingham University Business School, where she is currently the Research Director of the Strategy and International Business Department. She is also an expert at the RightsLab Beacon of Excellence of the University of Nottingham - the world’s largest group of modern slavery researchers.  

A political scientist by training, Lara’s current research focuses on workers’ rights in global value chains, as well as on stakeholder engagement and dialogism.

Her latest research project, funded by Research England Policy Funding, aims at assessing migrant workers’ access to remedy for human rights abuses in the UK agricultural sector. Prior to this, she led a Global Challenge Research Fund and an ESRC Impact Accelerator Account research projects on women's agency in conflict-affected societies.

 

 

  • Programme

    Download the PDF programme brochure here.

    Tuesday 10 September - Conference Centre, Third Floor, Bramber House, 小蓝视频

    • 08:45 – 09:30 Registration & Coffee - Delegate Space
    • 09:30 – 10:45 Welcome Address & Keynote - Terrace
    • 10:45 – 11:15 Refreshment Break - Delegate Space
    • 11:15 – 12:45 Parallel Sessions 1A - B - Various
    • 12:45 – 13:45 Lunch - Delegate Space
    • 13:45 – 15:15 Parallel Sessions 2A - B - Various
    • 15:15 – 15:45 Refreshment Break - Delegate Space
    • 15:45 – 17:15 Parallel Sessions 3A - C - Various
    • 17:15 – 19:00 Free Time 
    • 19:00 – 23:00 Conference Dinner - Salt Room (Central Brighton)

     

    Wednesday 11 September - Conference Centre, Third Floor, Bramber House, 小蓝视频

    • 08:45 – 09:30 Registration & Coffee - Delegate Space
    • 09:30 – 11:00 Parallel Sessions 4A - B - Various
    • 11:00 – 11:30 Refreshment Break - Delegate Space
    • 11:30 – 13:00 Parallel Sessions 5A - B - Various
    • 13:00 – 14:00 Lunch - Delegate Space
    • 14:00 – 16:00 Parallel Workshops - Various

    Tuesday 10 September

    Session 1, 11:15-12:45

    A - Supply Chain Management: Problems and Perspectives

    Room: Gallery Room 1

    Chair: Shilpi Banerjee

    Examining the role of supply chains in the global business of modern slavery through a critical post-colonial lens

    Shilpi Banerjee & Matt Gitsham

    Examining Modern Slavery in Supply Chains: A Stakeholder Theory Perspective

    Maximilian Hauser

    Ethical blindness and the failure to prevent modern slavery in supply chains

    Andrew Crane

    B - Supply Chain Management: Modern Slavery and the Law

    Room: Gallery Room 2

    Chair: Shoaib Ahmed

    Theorizing the mechanisms between secrecy and transparency in leading to violence in organizations in the global supply chain

    Shoaib Ahmed & Ziyun Fan

    The role of supply chain financing in combating modern slavery

    Simon Croom 

    Session 2, 13:45-15:15

    A – Supply Chain Management: Who and What?

    Room: Gallery Room 1 

    Chair: Bruce Pinnington

    The company you keep: the impact of supplier homophily on modern slavery discovery in supply chains

    Oliver Kennedy

    Enhancing the effectiveness of modern slavery transparency: Understanding the nature of visibility

    Bruce Pinnington

    A Cross Industry Analysis of Forced Labour in Supply Chains: A Structured Literature Review

    Sibangjit Das, Nancy Southin & Stuart Milligan

    B – Reporting

    Room: Gallery Room 2

    Chair: Caroline Emberson

    UK Modern Slavery Reporting: Harnessing Specialised Large Language Models

    Ser-Huang Poon

    Examining the association between financial indicators and ethical reporting practices related to modern slavery

    Caroline Emberson

    Destined to fail? Why Modern Slavery Legislation Cannot Guarantee Extraterritorial Respect for Labour Rights

    Brent Burmester

    Session 3, 15:30-17:00

    A - Supply Chain Management: From the Bottom Up

    Room: Terrace Room

    Chair: Amy Benstead

    Valuing Worker Voice and Data for Workers’ Rights in Supply Chains

    Puvan Jegaraj Selvanathan

    Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence in Supply Chains: Addressing Labour Abuses and Enhancing Management Practices

    Matthew Skerritt

    Imbricating worker voice and recognition for supply chain justice: preliminary findings from Leicester’s garment industry

    Amy Benstead & Victoria Stephens

    B - Technology against Slavery

    Room: Gallery Room 1

    Chair: Adrian Smith

    “From Chains to Chains”: Blockchain Innovations in Combating Modern Slavery and Enhancing Reporting               

    Eric McLaren

    Modern slavery risk, ‘AgTech’ and agrifood value chains: can automation and digital work replace growers’ reliance on precarious seasonal migrant labour?

    Adrian Smith

    Technology-centred approaches to combatting modern slavery: false hope or final fix?

    Brent Burmester

    C - Management: Concepts and Critique

    Room: Gallery Room 2

    Chair: Johanne Grosvold

    Shackled by agency theory: why incentive misalignment leaves corporate boards unable to tackle modern slavery in their supply chains

    Johanne Grosvold

    Accounting and Corporate Sustainability for Socioeconomic and Cultural Injustice of Female Tea Plantation Workers in Sri Lanka

    Chaya Jayathileka

    Modern slavery statements of FTSE 100 companies: Symbolic or substantive?

    Aditi Gupta

    Wednesday 11 September

    Session 4, 09:30-11:00

    A – Leadership

    Room: Gallery Room 1

    Chair: Matthew Gitsham

    'Modern Slavery Just Transition Framework (MSJTS): Transitioning from a policing mindset to a joint venture'

    Fatima Annan-Diab

    Challenging Modern Slavery Through Ethical Leadership

    Boglarka Radi

    Exploring Engagement of UK Universities with issues relating to modern slavery

    Antonietta Balestra

    B – Law: Partnerships and Public Policy

    Room: Gallery Room 2

    Chair: Mike Rogerson

    Government Leverage to tackle modern slavery in Public Health Supply Chains: integrating zero tolerance, transparency and direct engagement approaches

    Olga Martin-Ortega & Cindy Berman

    Impacts of Brexit's Immigration Policies on the United Kingdom’s Agriculture Labor Market

    Haley Jo Mack, Mariana Mesa & Emily Tricker

    Setting the Legal Imperative for Promoting Sustainable Corporate Practices through Shareholder Engagement in the UK — On the Road to Somewhere?

    Rafael Savva

     Session 5, 11:15-12:45

    A – Radical Views

    Room: Gallery Room 1

    Chair: Robert Caruana

    Conceptualizing Stakeholder Influence on Modern Slavery Legislation: Towards Greater Transparency in Australian Supply Chains

    Talita Meira

    Beyond Awareness: Mobilising Consumers Against Modern Slavery

    Deirdre Shaw

    Shifting Sands: The intersectional impact of macro-contextual change on women working in the transitioning societies of Kazakhstan and Mongolia

    Aidan McKearney

    B - New Approaches

    Room: Gallery Room 2

    Chair: Shilpi Banerjee

    An exploration of the impact of the UK Modern Slavery Act (2015) on procurement practice: a Transaction Cost Economics Perspective

    Stuart Milligan & Nancy Southin

    Accounting and accountability for poorly designed public work programs in Botswana

    Gofaone Koorapetse

    A New Form of Slavery? An Examination of the Global Fertility Chain and the Role for Healthcare Professionals

    Yingyi Luo

    Parallel Workshops, 14:00-17:00

    Paper Development Workshop - Gallery Room 1

    Early Career Researcher Workshop - Gallery Room 2

    Early Career Researcher Workshop

    Paper Development Workshop

  • Submission guidelines 

    Authors are invited to submit a 500 - 1,000 word abstract, excluding title, authors, figures, tables, and references on any aspect of business and modern slavery. Abstracts can be summaries of completed papers, works in progress, or proposals for future projects.

    Authors are required to send their abstract by email to the conference dedicated inbox; modernslaveryconf24@sussex.ac.uk, adhering to the submission guidelines*. More information on the submission guildlines

    *If you are submitting as a PhD student, proof of your student status should also be emailed to the same address when you submit your abstract.

    The deadline for abstracts submission is the end of the day onFriday 31 May 2024. Submitted abstracts will be reviewed by the Conference Committee.

    Decisions will be communicated to authors on Friday 14 June 2024. Authors participating in the conference Paper Development Workshop will be required to submit a full paper of approx. 5,000 - 10,000 words by Wednesday 31 July 2024.

Workshops

We will also host workshops on Wednesday 11 September for anyone interested in submitting to the special issue in  and for Early Career Researchers. The workshops will be held in parallel from 14:00 - 17:00. 

  • Paper development workshop

    The paper development workshop is an amazing opportunity for those interested in more in-depth feedback on their work on a one-to-one basis with senior scholars, possibly for submission to the special issue on .

    Find out how to apply.

  • Early Career Researcher workshop

    The Early Career Researcher workshop is perfect for early career scholars seeking to build their research skills and connections in the area of business and modern slavery. Early career scholars, defined as PhDs, post-doctoral researchers, and faculty at Lecturer (Assistant Professor) level can apply for the workshop by including a request for involvement in the email to which they attach their abstract.

    Please let us know, in your email, what your discipline is, what you would like to get from the workshop, and the identities of any senior faculty with whom you have already worked (so that we can try to build your network by not pairing you with people with whom you already have a working relationship).

Key dates

Friday 31 May – Deadline for submission of abstracts

Friday 14 June – Notification of decisions & Early Bird Registrations opens

Sunday 30 June – Early Bird Registrations closes

Wednesday 31 July – Deadline for submission of full papers for the Paper development workshop

Friday 16 August – Registrations closes

Tuesday 10  September– 09:00 - 17:00 Main conference

Wednesday 11 September –  09:00 - 14:00 Main conference; Paper development workshop & Early Career Researcher workshop running in parallel from 14:00 - 17:00

There will be a conference dinner on Tuesday 10 September. The cost of this is included in the conference fee.

Registration

Registrations to the conference are now open. Please register .

Registration fees

Registration Type Dates Fee (£)
Early Bird 14/06 - 30/06 150
Standard Registration 01/07 - 16/08 200
PhD Student 14/06 - 16/08 50
  • What is included in the fee?

    Attendance of 2 main conference days 

    Attendance of the Paper development workshop OR Early Career Researcher workshop (if accepted)

    Conference dinner

    Lunches and coffee breaks at the conference days 

  • What is not included in the fee?

    Travel costs

    Accommodation costs

    Transfers from Brighton to the 小蓝视频, Falmer campus 

    Pre-conference drinks for early arrivals (optional)

Useful information for participants

  • Finding accommodation in Brighton

    Brighton will be busy at the beginning of September. We recommend that you book your accommodation ASAP.

    We recommend the following hotels, near Brighton train station: 

    1. The . The hotel is located a couple of minutes away from the Brighton train station. The address is 88-92 Queens Rd, East 小蓝视频, Brighton BN1 3XE, (tel +44 1273 201000), email here: H6444@accor.com

    2. The  (Formerly Jurys Inn) close to the train station. The address: 101 Stroudley Rd, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 4DJ and a phone is: +441273 862121, email here: Brighton@leonardohotels.com.

    Alternative accommodation at many Brighton hotels for all budgets, at a preferential rate, for a certain period of time is curated by Visit Brighton, please check here  

  • Travelling to the 小蓝视频

    Getting to the campus

    The campus, located in Falmer, is well-served by public transport, with Falmer train station on the south side of campus, and frequent buses to and from Brighton. Please find below detailed instructions about Travelling to campus – for detailed information on how to reach the campus by

    By train

    If travelling by train from Brighton, getting to Falmer Station is a 10-minute train ride from Brighton Station, where trains to Falmer depart from platforms 7 and 8 usually every 10 minutes (please check train times in advance).

    From Falmer train station, follow the signs to the 小蓝视频 campus.

    By bus

    The and 25X bus brings you from central Brighton all the way to 小蓝视频 campus.

    By car

    If you intend to drive to the event, a “Car Parking Permit” PDF will be shared with registered attendees closer to the event.

    Transfer from the airport

    If your flight arrives in Heathrow Airport, kindly check which Terminal it lands on. A very easy way to come to Brighton would be by coach ().

    Gatwick Airport train station is located at the South Terminal, just a short walk from both departures and arrivals. The station is easily accessible from the North Terminal by a free shuttle. You can buy train tickets at the station, online or by using your contactless payment card at the ticket gates. There are very frequent trains to Brighton and the duration of the journey is about 30 minutes. More information 

Conference organisers 

  • , 小蓝视频
  • , 小蓝视频
  • Shilpi Banerjee, Hult Business School
  • , Hult Business School

Contact us

For more information about the conference, please get in touch.

Email: modernslaveryconf24@sussex.ac.uk