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1. The Congolese Fight for Their Own Wealth

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
The DRC’s vast mineral wealth contrasts with its extreme poverty, caused by exploitation and conflict. The dossier emphasises sovereignty and dignity, echoing Congolese activists’ visions for freedom.
Topic:
Poverty, Sovereignty, Conflict, Minerals, Exploitation, and Activism
Political Geography:
Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

2. A Generalised Commodity Theory of Exploitation

Author:
Photis Lysandrou
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
City Political Economy Research Centre (CITYPERC), University of London
Abstract:
This paper argues that the conceptual framework of Marx's Capital allows for the extraction of a commodity-based theory of capitalist exploitation that is distinct from the traditional labour-value based theory. The rationale for extracting such a theory is that it allows for an explanation of the current rise in global economic inequality in a way that shows this development to be entirely consistent with the fundamental laws of capitalism as it enters its globalised and financialised stage of development.
Topic:
Globalization, Capitalism, Commodities, Exploitation, and Financialized Capitalism
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Regulating platform work: How will this impact migrant workers?

Author:
Tommaso Grossi and Andreina De Leo
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Policy Centre (EPC)
Abstract:
Migrant workers in the platform labour market are vulnerable to double exploitation. First, as platform workers, they cannot enjoy the protections that employment law provides. Second, they can be subject to exploitation due to their migration and residence status, especially if undocumented. This Discussion Paper analyses the impact of the European Commission’s proposed Directive on improving the working conditions and rights of platform migrant workers. The proposed Directive's positive impact will likely be restricted by migrant employees' bargaining strength and non-EU platform workers' well-founded fears of reprisal. Therefore, targeted improvements to the proposed framework are needed to remove the structural barriers faced by migrant workers when accessing the labour market. This Paper offers six recommendations on how to move forward: Strike the right balance between retaining flexibility for genuine self-employed platform workers and enhancing protection through reclassification. Guarantee transparency and ensure non-discrimination in algorithmic management. Introduce effective measures against the risk of subcontracting and ensure the liability of subcontracting chains. Facilitate the involvement of civil society organisations with specific expertise on migrants’ rights as well as trade unions involved in defending the rights of platform workers to enhance the enforcement of rights and protections. Put in place binding measures to establish ‘firewalls’ for platform migrant workers who lodge complaints in the context of inspections by the labour authorities. Promote better access to the labour market for migrant workers and consider regularisation channels for undocumented migrants as the most effective way to prevent or fight exploitation.
Topic:
Employment, Labor Market, Migrant Workers, and Exploitation
Political Geography:
Europe

4. Dependency and Super-exploitation: The Relationship between Foreign Capital and Social Struggles in Latin America

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
08-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
This dossier analyses the role of Marxist dependency theory today as an important scientific tool to understand the current anti-democratic and fascist trends and emancipation processes in the Global South.
Topic:
Capital, Exploitation, Dependency, and Marxism
Political Geography:
Latin America and Global South

5. Coercion and Violence in German Labor Conscription in Cameroon, 1880s-1914

Author:
Henry Kam Kah and Emmanuel E. Kengo
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
Cameroon is officially bilingual with English and French used in public administration and in busines. It is multi-ethnic and multi-lingual consisting of over 250 ethnic polities that mek it aptly described as "a babble of tongues". Its location straddles the Central and West African sub-regions. The ecological zones of the country include the Sahel, Savanna and forest. through this, the coungry has been nicknamed "Africa in miniature" (Fanso 2017, 9). The country has a triple colonial heritage. It was first annexed in July 1884 by Germany. After the german defeat in World War I, the country, like other German colonies, was seized from Germany and eventually partitioned into two unequal halves by Britain and France after a botchd condominium. The economic foundation of the territory during the colonial period was laid by the Germans. Labour played a cutting-edge role in the German economic enterprise in Cameroon. The conscription and treatment of labour in the country and other German colonies was barbaric and dehumanising to say the least. This paper discusses this poor labour treatment and the ramifications on the population and in the redefinition of German labour policy in the territory.
Topic:
History, Labor Issues, Economy, Colonialism, Exploitation, and Conscription
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

6. Are Agri-Food Workers Only Exploited in Southern Europe?

Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
In recent years, several studies have reported on the exploitation endured by migrant workers in Southern European Union member states—especially in sectors such as agriculture and food production. However, there has been much less focus on the North. New research now shows that agri-food workers in Northern Europe also face poor and even abusive conditions. In this light, Are Agri-Food Workers Only Exploited in Southern Europe? focuses on production in Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden. These three EU member states have stronger social protections than Italy, Spain or Greece—yet the dynamics driving wage compression and the violation of workers’ rights are like those in Southern Europe. This publication provides recommendations on how the EU and national governments can act to make Europe’s agri-food system more sustainable, benefiting farmers, consumers, workers, and the environment.
Topic:
Agriculture, Environment, Human Rights, Labor Issues, Sustainability, Farming, Exploitation, and Consumerism
Political Geography:
Europe, Northern Europe, and Southern Europe

7. Female Domestic Workers of Lahore: A Neglected Community

Author:
Khalid Manzoor Butt and Arooj Khan
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Political Studies
Institution:
Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:
In Pakistan, women are considered as a stigmatized community and beholden to different social and cultural norms. Though they are almost half of the population but it seems that they are restricted from having liberty, education, economic exposure and rights. As far as notion of working women is concerned, it is a general perception that in Pakistan, poverty stimulates poor women to work and support family otherwise Society does not accept the notion of working women. They are under male domination and very few women take part in economic activities. However, the women who work mostly work in informal sector which further exacerbate their problems. In urban areas like Lahore, domestic service sector is the major sector of employment for women. Due to toothless laws and lack of regulation of this work, these female workers confront numerous problems. This descriptive research will explore some crucial problems of domestic workers in Lahore; identify the underlying reasons that compel the women to join this sector.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Poverty, Labor Issues, Women, Exploitation, and Abuse
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

8. The Sarayaku and the Inter-American System on Human Rights: Justice for the “Medio Dia” People and their Living Jungle

Author:
Mario Melo Cevallos
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Dejusticia
Abstract:
How was it possible for an indigenous people in the middle of the Amazon to protect their life and territory from oil exploitation? What was the response of the Government of Ecuador to the claims of the Sarayaku people? How is a human rights strategy developed at different geographical levels? In this text, Mario Melo Cevallos, lawyer of the Kichwa people of Sarayaku, addresses these questions by presenting his version of the history of resistance and mobilization of the indigenous people before the State plans to exploit the oil that was in the heart of the Amazon. From the jungle, through the national courts, to the inter-American human rights system, the author shows the different sources of political and legal mobilization used by the people. Based on the work of more than a decade that Melo has done with the descendants of the jaguar, the book combines anecdotal references with judicial decisions and social mobilizations to show the story behind one of the most important sentences of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Undoubtedly, the case of the Sarayaku people is a symbol for the other indigenous peoples of the Global South. Your experience, we hope, will serve as an example for all indigenous peoples who mobilize against the expansion of the extractive border over their territories.
Topic:
Human Rights, Oil, Natural Resources, Transitional Justice, and Exploitation
Political Geography:
Global South

9. How a Community-Led Response to Sexual Exploitation in Uganda Led to Systemic World Bank Reform

Author:
Elana Berger
Publication Date:
06-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Accountability Research Center (ARC), American University
Abstract:
How can demands for accountability and redress for harm suffered in a particular case contribute to new institutional measures to prevent future abuse? This note describes how the small Ugandan community of Bigodi, together with local, national, and international allies, mobilized to demand redress for harm done by a World Bank-funded infrastructure project, and in doing so, catalyzed changes at the World Bank aimed at preventing similar abuses in the future. The Bigodi community’s 2015 request to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel, bolstered by international media coverage, led Bank management to respond both to the specific harms and to the underlying policy failures that made them possible. The community called for the World Bank to address cases of sexual exploitation of teenage girls by construction workers employed by a Bank-funded project, the Uganda Transport Sector Development Project (TSDP). This case is significant not only because World Bank funding for the project was cancelled, affected community members received needed support services, and a corrupt government agency was purged, but because the institutional changes made may prevent similar harms across future World Bank projects. The World Bank promotes a discourse of accountability, and yet obtaining redress when problems result from World Bank projects is difficult. This is often because, rather than treating requests from communities to the Inspection Panel as an opportunity to learn lessons and improve development outcomes, World Bank management generally responds defensively and treats the Panel investigation as an adversarial process in which they seek to prove the requestors wrong. As this case demonstrates, however, when management responds constructively to Panel investigations, genuine reform can take place. For this to happen, pressure from outside the Bank is needed to provide reformers within the Bank with the opportunity to make needed policy changes both at the project level and Bank-wide. The factors that led the Bank to respond constructively with a comprehensive response in the TSDP case included: – a strong community–NGO partnership which pursued justice for victims of sexual exploitation and abuse – sustained advocacy from national and international civil society – high-profile media attention on a topic that caused embarrassment for the Bank – a strong report from an independent accountability mechanism within the World Bank (the Inspection Panel) – pressure from the Bank’s Board of Directors, in particular frequent engagement from the US government with all levels of Bank management – high-level individuals within the Bank, including President Kim, were committed to making policy changes that would reduce the risk of gender-based violence in the future. This case embodies the potential for specific instances of harm to provide the necessary catalyst for improved accountability structures and system-wide change.
Topic:
Civil Society, World Bank, Reform, Sexual Violence, Accountability, Exploitation, and Community Engagement
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

10. Reducing Sexual Abuse and Exploitation in UN Peacekeeping Missions: Reforming Data Collection to Inform Action

Author:
Anjali Dayal and Sophie Huvé
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS)
Abstract:
Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by United Nations (UN) peacekeepers is a critical issue. The UN has had a zero-tolerance policy in place since 2003 and has made data on SEA allegations in peace operations publicly available since 2007. This data reveals that peacekeeping missions with civilian protection mandates account for over 95 percent of reported allegations, while missions without such mandates account for under 5 percent. However, gaps and inconsistencies in data collection, reporting, and interpretation make it difficult to draw conclusions from the data alone. We need substantial context and case-specific knowledge to fully interpret the reported numbers. This policy brief makes recommendations to the UN on how to improve data collection and clarify reporting mechanisms, and calls for extensive external investigation to explain the variation in reported cases of SEA.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, Reform, Sexual Violence, Data, and Exploitation
Political Geography:
Global Focus