Forced labour in the Volkswagen ranch: chronique of an Amazonian scandal in Germany

Abstract

The object of this article is the scandal of forced labor linked to the Vale do Rio Cristalino Amazonian ranch, which belonged to the German firm Volkswagen (VW) between 1973 and 1986. Focusing on the representations, the perception and the reception of the scandal in Germany, this article has the following three aims: - explaining how a multinational company of modern and humanist reputation could tolerate the existence of archaic forms of labor in its own ranch -analyzing the movement of trans-national solidarity, which developed in Germany in reaction to the news of forced labor at “Cristalino” -evaluating the impact of this polemic in the sensibilization, at the international level, as regards the problem of Amazonian forced labor. Keywords : forced labour, Amazon, Volkswagen, Germany, international solidarity