A/72/139 they did not include a discussion of contemporary forms of slavery meant that related debates failed to address the important interlinkages between the phenomenon and the causes and consequences of underdevelopment. B. Key socioeconomic trends 22. Viewing the continued prevalence of slavery as a symptom of the weakness of global efforts to achieve sustainable development allows us to look beyond the lens of individual vulnerability to contemporary forms of slavery and government responses to the phenomena and examine the systemic global socioeconomic trends that have significantly contributed to the way that such widespread exploitation has been able to flourish. Examining the trends helps us to understand why, despite the establishment in many countries of robust legal frameworks prohibiting contemporary forms of slavery and other measures to eradicate the phenomena, the scourge continues unabated. There are a number of such key trends, deeply interconnected and mutually reinforcing, and which are analysed below. Globalization 23. The time at which the Millennium Development Goals were developed and implemented can be characterized as a period of significant globalization. While there is no agreed definition of globalization, it refers to complex processes of integration of capital and global and labour markets fuelled by technological advancement. 10 Such integration is not inherently detrimental and could, if governed correctly, have the potential to accelerate efforts to eradicate contemporary forms of slavery, for example, finding victims through technological advancements, increased information flows or mitigating risk factors for contemporary forms of slavery through orderly global migration channels. However, the globalization experience has been profoundly shaped by neo-liberal notions of political economy, which argue that markets unfettered by government oversight and control will encourage economic growth and wealth creation that in turn will bring trickle -down economic benefits for all members of society. This narrow free-market doctrine of economic development is characterized by support for reducing market regulation, trade and investment liberalization, cutting expenditure for social services and privatization of State-owned enterprises. 24. This form of globalization, characterized by adherence to neo-liberal economic principles and a lack of integration of human rights principles, has played a huge role in allowing widespread exploitation, including contemporary forms of slavery, to flourish, not least by driving demand for low-cost goods and services, promoting unsustainable consumption patterns, as well as allowing companies to have easier access to new markets and new sources of labour, this, which, in turn, has driven demand for cheaper labour, combined with weak regulatory frameworks. The race to the bottom to find the cheapest labour can mean that contemporary forms of slavery become a way for companies to, knowingly or unknowingly, gain a competitive advantage owing to the very low costs of such labour. 11 Such competitive advantage then, in turn, creates a powerful economic disincentive to the eradication of related forms of contemporary slavery. The cheap cost of travel and technological advancements that have accompanied globalization, such as mobile technology and __________________ 10 11 8/21 World Trade Organization, World Trade Report 2008: Trade in a Globalized World, “Globalization and Trade” p. 15. Available from www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/anrep_e/ world_trade_report08_e.pdf. Oxfam International, “An economy for the 99%”, Oxfam briefing paper (January 2017). 17-11988