Architecture of Coercion: Conceptualizing and Measuring State-Imposed Forced Labor Based on ILO Standards

Author: Zenz, Adrian

Abstract: The global resurgence of State-Imposed Forced Labor (SIFL), particularly through forms of forced labor mobilization, highlights critical deficiencies in the conceptual and methodological tools available to researchers and regulatory bodies. The International Labour Organization (ILO)’s approach to conceptualizing forms of SIFL, rooted in Conventions 29 and 105, conflates the mechanisms of coercion with the state’s purposes for exacting labor. This conflation impedes the creation of operationalizable measurement frameworks. This article proposes a systematic methodology, grounded in ILO standards yet structured for empirical investigation, to address this conceptual problem. It introduces the SIFL Categorization Matrix, a novel analytical tool that differentiates coercion mechanisms from state purposes. The article then elaborates a three-pillar SIFL assessment methodology that establishes the mechanism of coercion as its fundamental organizing principle for the measurement process. The resulting measurement framework is designed to enhance the operationalization of forced labor prohibitions by both national and multilateral entities, with particular relevance for the implementation of the European Union’s Forced Labor Regulation. Furthermore, by clarifying how authoritarian regimes deploy labor coercion, this approach provides researchers with robust tools to investigate systemic human and labor rights abuses within state-directed political economies and implicated global supply chains.

Keywords: state-imposed forced labor, International Labour Organization (ILO), measurement framework, structural coercion, coercive mobilization, policy analysis