Christopher Pesterfield

My research is concerned with the intersection of labour exploitation, corporate social responsibility, and critical forms of political economy. I have published in journals such as Capital & Class, Science & Society, and the Journal of Business Ethics. I am also a co-editor of the online magazine Futures of Work. I have researched and published on unfree labour or modern slavery, which represent different aspects of how labour exploitation can be understood. This includes a focus on legislation such as the Modern Slavery Act, and evaluating its efficacy. Beyond this, I am also interested in corporate responses to this legislation, and in particular exploring the structural constraints actors and firms face in attempting to develop an ‘ethical’ set of practices around labour exploitation, and how actors respond to these. Methodologically I use qualitative approaches to explore the above issues. I welcome enquiries from potential doctoral researchers interested in any of the themes, methodologies, or perspectives above.

[24/06/2026] Global Economy and Labor - The Sage Encyclopedia of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery (Chapter in a book, Accepted/In press) [21/04/2026] Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: the ‘Friend Yet Foe’ Paradox (Other contribution, Published) [08/07/2026] Modern slavery and knowledge production: Lived experience as expertise (Other contribution, Published) [21/04/2026] How do Managers Understand Modern Slavery in Supply Chains (Conference paper, Accepted/In press) [07/07/2026] The Vertical Governance of Modern Slavery Risks in Supply Chains - Supply Chain Management (Article, Published)