Economic exploitation

Nature

Economic exploitation refers to the unfair treatment of individuals or groups in economic systems, where they are deprived of fair compensation for their labor or resources. This often occurs in contexts such as low-wage labor, child labor, and exploitative working conditions, where the benefits disproportionately favor employers or powerful entities. Economic exploitation can perpetuate poverty, inequality, and social injustice, undermining the dignity and rights of affected individuals. It is a critical issue in discussions about labor rights, corporate responsibility, and sustainable development, highlighting the need for equitable economic practices and policies that protect vulnerable populations.

Incidence

According to the International Labour Organization, over 27 million people worldwide are trapped in forced labour, generating an estimated $150 billion in illegal profits annually. Economic exploitation is particularly prevalent in sectors such as agriculture, construction, and domestic work, with the highest incidence reported in Asia-Pacific and Africa. Migrant workers and children are especially vulnerable, often facing wage theft, hazardous conditions, and lack of legal protections.
In 2013, the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh, exposed the severe economic exploitation of garment workers. Over 1,100 workers died while producing clothing for global brands, many earning less than $40 per month under unsafe conditions.

Claim

Although industrialized countries may not deliberately set out to exploit poorer countries, they tend to practice an approach to development which is almost entirely in their own national interest. In so doing they involve the privileged classes of Third World countries as willing accomplices. The productive capacity of the developing countries is then organized so as to produce for these groups and only incidentally, if at all for the impoverished classes of those countries.

Counter-claim

The richer nations do not exploit, rather they facilitate the development of the poorer countries by encouraging a free enterprise system based on the profit motive to stimulate the economic involvement of the impoverished classes in the development process.