Genevieve LeBaron
Biography
Genevieve LeBaron is Professor and Director, School of Public Policy, at Simon Fraser University's Vancouver campus.
Her award-winning research investigates the business of forced labour in global supply chains and the effectiveness of government, industry, and worker-led strategies to combat it. Her latest books are Combatting Modern Slavery: Why Labour Governance is Failing and What We Can Do About It (Polity Press, 2020, Winner of the Academy of Management SIM Division’s Best Book Prize) and Fighting Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking: History and Contemporary Policy (Cambridge University Press, 2021, co-edited with David W. Blight and Jessica Pliley). She is the author of over forty academic journal articles and book chapters (her list of publications is here).
LeBaron is Co-Principal Investigator of Re:Structure Lab, a research and policy Lab based across SFU School of Public Policy, Stanford and Yale Universities.
Her research has attracted funding from several councils and foundations, including: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC); the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); The British Academy; Ford Foundation; Leverhulme Trust; and Humanity United. LeBaron has was elected to the College of the Royal Society of Canada in 2020.
Prior to joining SFU in January 2022, she held appointments at University of Sheffield, Yale University, Sciences Po Paris, University of British Columbia, University of California, Berkeley, and the International Labour Organization.
Drawing from her research, LeBaron works closely with governments, United Nations agencies, global companies and others to build measures to prevent forced labour directly into their business models and supply chain relationships. She currently serves on the UK Parliament’s Modern Slavery and the Supply Chain Advisory Committee.
Research Interests:
- Global Policy, Labour Market Policy, Forced Labour, Human Rights, International Political Economy
Selected Publications
Books
Genevieve LeBaron, Jessica Pliley & David W. Blight (eds)(2021) Fighting Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking: History and Contemporary Policy. Cambridge University Press.
Genevieve LeBaron (2020) Combatting Modern Slavery: Why Labour Governance is Failing and What We Can Do About It. Polity.
Genevieve LeBaron (ed)(2018) Researching Forced Labour in the Global Economy: Methodological Challenges and Advances. Oxford University Press.
Peter Dauvergne & Genevieve LeBaron (2014) Protest Inc: The Corporatization of Activism. Polity.
Edited Special Issues
Genevieve LeBaron & Jane Lister (eds)(2021) The Hidden Costs of Global Supply Chain Solutions. Special issue of Review of International Political Economy.
Jacqueline Best, Colin Hay, Daniel Mügge & Genevieve LeBaron (eds)(2021) Blind Spots in Political Economy: Revisiting the Historical Foundations of Current Thought. Special issue of New Political Economy.
Genevieve LeBaron, Daniel Mügge, Jacqueline Best & Colin Hay (eds)(2021) Blind Spots in International Political Economy: Marginalised Perspectives and Neglected Trends in Contemporary Capitalism. Special issue of Review of International Political Economy.
Robert Caruana, Andrew Crane, Stefan Gold & Genevieve LeBaron (2020) Modern Slavery in Business. Special issue of Business & Society.
Articles in Journals
Andrew Crane, Vivek Soundararajan, Michael Bloomfield, Genevieve LeBaron and Laura Spence (2022) ‘Hybrid (Un)Freedom in Worker Hostels in Garment Supply Chains.’ Human Relations.
Genevieve LeBaron & Jane Lister (2021) ‘The Hidden Costs of Global Supply Chain Solutions.’ Review of International Political Economy.
Genevieve LeBaron, Remi Edwards, Tom Hunt, Charline Sempere & Penelope Kyritsis (2021) ‘The Ineffectiveness of CSR: Understanding Garment Company Commitments to Living Wages in Global Supply Chains.’ New Political Economy.
Andrew Crane, Genevieve LeBaron, Kam Phung, Laya Behbahani, Jean Allain (2021) ‘Confronting the Business Models of Modern Slavery.’ Journal of Management Inquiry.
Genevieve LeBaron (2021) ‘The Role of Supply Chains in the Global Business of Forced Labour.’ Journal of Supply Chain Management.
Genevieve LeBaron (2021) ‘Wages: An Overlooked Dimension of Business and Human Rights in Global Supply Chains.’ Journal of Human Rights and Business.
Genevieve LeBaron, Daniel Mügge, Jacqueline Best & Colin Hay (2020) ‘Blind Spots in IPE: Marginalised Perspectives and Neglected Trends in Contemporary Capitalism.’ Review of International Political Economy.
Jacqueline Best, Colin Hay, Daniel Mügge & Genevieve LeBaron (2020) ‘Seeing and Not-seeing Like a Political Economist: The Historicity of Contemporary Political Economy and its Blind Spots.’ New Political Economy.
Robert Caruana, Andrew Crane, Stefan Gold & Genevieve LeBaron (2020) ‘Modern Slavery in Business: The Sad and Sorry State of a Non-Field.’ Business & Society.
Ellie Gore & Genevieve LeBaron (2019) ‘Using Social Reproduction Theory to Understand Unfree Labour.’ Capital & Class.
Genevieve LeBaron & Ellie Gore (2019) ‘Gender and Forced Labour: Understanding the Links in Global Cocoa Supply Chains.’ Journal of Development Studies.
Sebastien Rioux, Genevieve LeBaron & Peter Verovsek (2019) ‘Capitalism and Unfree Labour: Marxist Perspectives on Contemporary Developments in the Study of Modern Slavery.’ Review of International Political Economy.
Luc Fransen & Genevieve LeBaron (2019) ‘Big Audit Firms as Regulatory Intermediaries in Transnational Labor Governance.’ Regulation & Governance.
Genevieve LeBaron & Andreas Rühmkorf (2019) ‘The Domestic Politics of Corporate Accountability Legislation: Struggles Over the 2015 Modern Slavery Act.’ Socio-Economic Review.
Andrew Crane, Genevieve LeBaron, Kam Phung, Laya Behbahani & Jean Allain (2018) ‘Innovations in the Business Models of Modern Slavery: The Dark Side of Business Model Innovation.’ Academy of Management Proceedings.
Genevieve LeBaron & Nicola Phillips (2018) ‘States and the Political Economy of Unfree Labour.’ New Political Economy.
Andrew Crane, Genevieve LeBaron, Jean Allain & Laya Behbahani (2017) ‘Governance Gaps in Eradicating Forced Labour: From Global to Domestic Supply Chains.’ Regulation & Governance.
Genevieve LeBaron, Jane Lister & Peter Dauvergne (2017) ‘Governing Global Supply Chain Sustainability through the Ethical Audit Regime.’ Globalizations.
Genevieve LeBaron & Andreas Rühmkorf (2017) ‘Steering CSR Through Home State Regulation: A Comparison of the UK Bribery Act and Modern Slavery Act.’ Global Policy.
Genevieve LeBaron & Jane Lister (2015) ‘Benchmarking Global Supply Chains: The Power of the ‘Ethical Audit’ Regime.’ Review of International Studies.
Genevieve LeBaron (2015) ‘Unfree Labour Beyond Binaries: Hierarchy, Insecurity, and Labor Market Restructuring.’ International Feminist Journal of Politics.
Genevieve LeBaron (2014) ‘Subcontracting is Not Illegal, But is it Unethical? Business Ethics, Forced Labor, and Economic Success.’ Brown Journal of World Affairs.
Genevieve LeBaron (2014) ‘Reconceptualizing Debt Bondage: Debt as a Class-Based Form of Labor Discipline.’ Critical Sociology.
Genevieve LeBaron & Alison J Ayers (2013) ‘The Rise of a ‘New Slavery’? Understanding African Unfree Labour Through Neoliberalism.’ Third World Quarterly.
Peter Dauvergne & Genevieve LeBaron (2013) ‘The Social Cost of Environmental Solutions.’ New Political Economy.
Genevieve LeBaron (2012) ‘Rethinking Prison Labor: Social Discipline and the State in Historical Perspective.’ Journal of Labor and Society.
Genevieve LeBaron & Adrienne Roberts (2012) ‘Confining Social Insecurity: Neoliberalism and the Rise of the 21st Century Debtors’ Prison.’ Politics & Gender.
Genevieve LeBaron (2010) ‘The Political Economy of the Household: Neoliberal Restructuring, Enclosures, and Daily Life.’ Review of International Political Economy.
Genevieve LeBaron & Adrienne Roberts (2010) ‘Toward a Feminist Political Economy of Capitalism and Carcerality.’ Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.
Policy Reports
Re:Structure Lab (2021) Forced Labour Evidence Brief Series.
Genevieve LeBaron, Penelope Kyritsis, Perla Polanco Leal, Michael Marshall (2021) The Unequal Impacts of Covid-19 on Global Garment Supply Chains: Evidence from Ethiopia, Honduras, India, and Myanmar. (Translated into Burmese, Tamil, Ahmaric, Spanish).
Andrew Crane, Vivek Soundararajan, Michael Bloomfield, Laura Spence & Genevieve LeBaron (2019) Decent Work and Economic Growth in the South Indian Garment Industry.
Remi Edwards, Tom Hunt & Genevieve LeBaron (2019) Corporate Commitments to Living Wages in the Garment Industry.
Genevieve LeBaron (2018) The Global Business of Forced Labour: Report of Findings.
Genevieve LeBaron & Ellie Gore (2018) The Global Business of Forced Labor Policy Brief 1: Key Findings and Recommendations for UK Policymakers.
Genevieve LeBaron & Ellie Gore (2018) The Global Business of Forced Labor Policy Brief 2: Key Findings and Recommendations for Auditors and Certifiers.
Genevieve LeBaron & Ellie Gore (2018) The Global Business of Forced Labor Policy Brief 3: Key Findings and Recommendations for Brand and Retail Companies.
Nicola Phillips, Genevieve LeBaron & Sara Wallin (2018) Mapping and Measuring the Effectiveness of Labour-Related Disclosure Requirements for Global Supply Chains. International Labour Organization Working Paper No 32.
Genevieve LeBaron, Neil Howard, Cameron Thibos & Penelope Kyritsis (2018) Confronting Root Causes: Forced Labour in Global Supply Chains.
Genevieve LeBaron & Jane Lister (2018) Ethical Audits and the Supply Chains of Global Corporations.
Colin Hay, Scott Lavery, Martin Craig, Hannah Lambie-Mumford, Daniela Tepe-Belfrage, Genevieve LeBaron, Andrew Gamble, Adam Barber, Craig Berry & Tony Payne (2015) Inequality Redux.
Jean Allain, Andrew Crane, Genevieve LeBaron & Laya Behbahani (2013) Forced Labour’s Business Models & Supply Chains.
Jane Lister & Genevieve LeBaron (2012) Shopping for Sustainability at the Canton Fair: The Political Economy of Transnational Brand Retail Governance in China.