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Why does indentured labour persist in Pakistan despite numerous legislative efforts to stop it? What roles do religion, gender, caste, and class play in these work entrapments? Indentured labour is a form of ‘modern-day slavery’ where vulnerable households enter a binding contract in exchange for high-interest loans that often take generations to clear. Entrapped families predominantly belong to lower caste Christian communities, already suffering economic and social discrimination. Lack of credit drives indentured labour; social and economic inequality exacerbate the issue. Prevailing societal discrimination replicated within the employment relations of indentured labourers warrant urgent investigation, particularly in relation to how economic precarity intersects with gender, religion, caste, and class.

The research examines everyday experiences of indentured labour in brick kilns in the peri-urban areas of north-western Pakistan. The research explores how the structural conditions shaping experience are internalized, facilitating a reproduction of the conditions people find themselves in. The study will collaborate with the grassroots organisation. Grounded in lived experience and participatory documentation through combination of digital diaries via images, journals, WhatsApp and SMS diaries, the research will generate knowledge of social transformation in co-production with those bonded in labour. Whilst the project aims to produce knowledge on debt entrapment that could be used to inform NGO policy and approaches, it also contributes knowledge which foregrounds brick kiln workers’ aspirations for the future.

An ethnographic approach using participant observation will be the over arching approach and this will be supported by i) surveys, ii)structured and semi-structured interviews, and iii) visual diaries. Participatory research methods such as participatory photography, storytelling, and group discussions will generate knowledge that is alive to workers’ experiences and aspirations. Detailed ethics and safety protocols will be collaboratively developed in partnership with the host organization. Results will be shared with organizations and local authorities through stakeholder workshops.