Transforming troubled souls: faith-based antitrafficking work as therapeutic governance

This article investigates how the problem of human trafficking is represented in the work of Evangelical faith-based organisations (FBOs) in South-East Asia. FBOs are prevalent but understudied actors in antitrafficking work, and more knowledge is needed on how faith shapes policies and practices. Drawing on interviews and document analysis, I demonstrate that the Evangelical faith-based identity of the studied organisations is reflected in their understanding of human trafficking as a problem caused significantly, but not exclusively, by emotional and spiritual trauma and brokenness. This leads FBOs to practice a specific, faith-infused form of therapeutic governance, seeking to combat human trafficking through individual transformation from within. This analysis contributes to an increased understanding of how religious faith and worldviews shape antitrafficking work. Further, bringing antitrafficking scholarship into conversation with literature on therapeutic governance allows me to situate the findings in a broader theoretical context, and add new insights about the importance of religious ideas and actors in therapeutic modes of governing.