The Volkswagen Case in the Amazon: Structural Inequality, Contemporary Slavery, Human Trafficking, and Corporate Relations with the Brazilian Military Dictatorship
Abstract
The article analyzes the Volkswagen case in the Amazon to reflect on the context of contemporary slave labor and structural inequality in Brazil. Based on a study of the economic policy of the Brazilian military dictatorship and Volkswagen's business relations with the regime, it investigates the legal proceedings that recognized the company's responsibility for subjecting workers to contemporary slavery and human trafficking, with the declaration of the imprescriptibility of serious human rights violations.
Presentato: 31 Dicembre 2025 | Accettato: 14 Gennaio 2026 | Pubblicato 21 Maggio 2026 | Lingua: en
Keywords Structural inequality • Human trafficking • Brazilian military dictatorship • Contemporary slave labor • Amazon
Copyright © 2026 Ricardo Rezende Figueira, José Lucas Santos Carvalho, Rafael Garcia Rodrigues. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/INQ/3035-0395/2026/03/004