David Batstone (born April 4, 1958) is an

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

professor at the University of San Francisco and is the founder and president of Not for Sale. Batstone is also a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and the president and founder of Right Reality, an international business that engages in

social venture A Social Venture (also called a social enterprise) is undertaking by a firm or organization established by a social entrepreneur that seeks to provide systemic solutions to achieve a sustainable, social objective. Background Social ventures may ...

s. He is a leader in Central American Mission Partners, a

human rights group A human rights group, or human rights organization, is a non-governmental organization which advocates for human rights through identification of their violation, collecting incident data, its analysis and publication, promotion of public awarenes ...

. As a representative of this group, he met with

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended ...

through

Glide Memorial Church Glide Memorial Church is a church in San Francisco, California, formerly a United Methodist Church congregation, which opened in 1930. Since the 1960s, it has served as a counter-culture rallying point, as one of the most prominently liberal chu ...

during A Conspiracy of Hope, a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

in support of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

. Before becoming a human rights activist, Batstone was a

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Cou ...

venture capitalist Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

Biography

Batstone wrote the book ''Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade - and How We Can Fight It'', in which he wrote about

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extr ...

and how

social inequality Social inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. It posses and creates gender c ...

and

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse

make it easy for traffickers to find girls to traffick. Julie Clawson wrote positively of this book, writing that she appreciated Batstone's "audacity in telling story after story of modern-day slavery." While still a student, Batstone studied under William R. Herzog, who taught Batstone about the

parables of Jesus The parables of Jesus are found in the Synoptic Gospels and some of the non-canonical gospels. They form approximately one third of his recorded teachings. Christians place great emphasis on these parables, which they generally regard as the wo ...

. Batstone is an advocate of

workplace spirituality Workplace spirituality or spirituality in the workplace is a movement that began in the early 1920s. It emerged as a grassroots movement with individuals seeking to live their faith and/or spiritual values in the workplace. Spiritual or ''spirit- ...

, about which he wrote in his 2003 book ''Saving the Corporate Soul''. He is also a liberation theologian who considers

postmodernity Postmodernity (post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is the economic or cultural state or condition of society which is said to exist ''after'' modernity. Some schools of thought hold that modernity ended in the late 20th century – in the ...

an era in which "we wallow in private affluence while squatting in public squalor." An anti-slavery activist, at the 2012 Freedom and Honor Conference in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

, a conference about

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and human trafficking, Batstone was one of the two keynote speakers. Born in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

, Batstone graduated from Chillicothe Township High School in 1976. He then earned a B.A. degree in psychology from

Westmont College Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937. History Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute in ...

in 1980. Batstone received an M.Div. degree from the International Baptist Seminary in Switzerland in 1982 and a second M.Div. degree from the

Pacific School of Religion The Pacific School of Religion (PSR) is a private Protestant seminary in Berkeley, California. It maintains covenantal relationships with the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Disciples of Christ, ensuring the school ...

in 1984. He completed his Ph.D. degree in systematic theology at the

Graduate Theological Union The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 ...

in 1989. His doctoral thesis in liberation theology was entitled ''From Conquest to Struggle: Jesus of Nazareth in the Liberation Christology of Latin America''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batstone, David 1958 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) People from Chillicothe, Illinois Westmont College alumni Pacific School of Religion alumni Graduate Theological Union alumni American ethicists Christian ethicists 21st-century American writers 21st-century American philosophers Writers from San Francisco American business writers Non-fiction writers about organized crime in the United States 20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians 21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians American spiritual writers American social sciences writers Catholic philosophers Philosophers of social science Liberation theologians American newspaper journalists Journalists from California American business and financial journalists American male journalists American activist journalists Religion journalists Crime victim advocates American human rights activists American anti-poverty advocates Anti–human trafficking activists Activists from the San Francisco Bay Area American social activists Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area 21st-century American businesspeople University of San Francisco faculty Sociologists of religion Philosophers from California