Trafficking, Travel, and Illicit Migration in the Early Twentieth-Century French Atlantic World

FAIN: FEL-267532-20

Elisa Camiscioli
SUNY Research Foundation, Binghamton (Binghamton, NY 13902-4400)

Research and writing leading to a book on the history of trafficking between France and the Americas in the early 20th century.

This project investigates early twentieth-century debates on trafficking through the lens of migration history, and how women’s mobility raised key questions about the distinction between free movement and unauthorized migrations. The “traffic in women” generated copious documentation on such themes as border policing, passport controls, immigration law, deportation, and repatriation. In addition, letters written by ostensibly trafficked women, their families, and members of criminal networks reveal the lived experience of these migrations. Focusing primarily on the transatlantic route between France and the Americas, the project situates both the discourse and experience of early twentieth-century trafficking within a longer history of free and unfree labor, sex work, mobility, and globalization. It thereby deepens our understanding of human trafficking, one of the most visible and controversial human rights issues of our time.