Forced labor and precarious working conditions are increasingly visible in high-income economies of the Global North. Mostly perpetrated by the private business sector, immigrant workers are disproportionately affected. However, most management literature has focused on labor exploitation and human rights abuses connected to global supply chains in the Global South. Yet, in industries or activities not easily offshored, low-cost business models contribute to labor market exploitation in high-income economies. The ability to implement such models depends on the institutional context as well as corporate capabilities. This insight does not, however, resolve the issue why also democratic welfare societies with strong legal systems see such practices. Using Sweden as a case, we ask what a sociological lens can contribute to our understanding. It suggests that forced labor is an emergent outcome of interlocking market, state, and institutional logics, reinforced by increasingly restrictive migration regimes. Conversely, an appreciation of the business side could inform sociological studies of migration and labor exploitation. Bridging management, sociology, and migration perspectives, this review contributes to the growing recognition that combating modern slavery requires not only better corporate compliance but also a rethinking of the institutional and social foundations upon which contemporary business models depend. © 2026 The Author(s). Sociology Compass published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Structures of Labor Exploitation: Sociology, Management, and Modern Slavery in the Global North
- Lin Lerpold - Stockholm School of Economics, Center for Sustainability ResearchÖrjan Sjöberg - Stockholm School of Economics, Center for Sustainability ResearchSven-Anders Stegare - Stockholm School of Economics, Center for Migration and Integration Research
- Sociology Compass, Vol.20(2)
- John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
- This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properlycited.© 2026 The Author(s). Sociology Compass published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
- Center for Migration and Integration Research; Center for Sustainability Research
- English
- Journal article