Nas teias da escravidão: as percepções de trabalhadores resgatados de situações de trabalho escravo no Maranhão

ABSTRACT This article presents the main results of a research on contemporary slave labor, financed by the International Labour Organization , with rescued workers in the city Açailândia (MA). Using the focal groups method, the objective was to analyze the experience of workers who underwent the process of slavery that culminated in slave labor, based on their narrative constructions. The narrative of the rescued workers’ experiences provided fundamental information on the distinct dynamics that characterize contemporary slave labor, including their profile and life conditions, the profile and modus operandi of the captors, the profile and modus operandi of the owners of companies that enslave workers, the seasonality and immigration (origin-destination), the process of exploitation and the degradation in working conditions.