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Debt bondage or bonded labor is a means of paying off loans with direct labor instead of currency or goods. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another The history of slavery uncovers many different forms of human exploitation across many cultures throughout history Slavery as an institution in Mediterranean cultures of the ancient world comprised a mixture of Debt-slavery, slavery as a punishment for crime and The issue of religion and slavery is an area of historical research into the relationship between the world's major Religions and the practice of Slavery. The Bible contains several references to slavery. The Hebrew Bible does not promote Slavery, but neither does it condemn it Christianity does not have a clear position regarding slavery, in favour or against The major juristic schools of Islam traditionally accepted the institution of Slavery. Judaism has been influenced by the experience of slavery of the Hebrews in the land of Egypt, as narrated in the biblical story of The Exodus The Atlantic Slave trade, also known as the transatlantic slave trade, was the trade of African people supplied to the Colonies of the New World This article discusses systems of slavery within Africa the history and effects of the slavery trade upon Africa The Arab Slave trade was the practice of Slavery in West Asia, North Africa, East Africa, and certain parts of Europe (such The history of slavery uncovers many different forms of human exploitation across many cultures throughout history Human trafficking is the recruitment transportation harbouring or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery forced labor (including bonded labor or debt bondage and servitude Sexual slavery refers to the organised coercion of persons into various different sexual practices forced Prostitution single-owner sexual slavery Abolitionism was a political movement of the 18th and 19th century which sought to make Slavery illegal particularly in the United States and British West Indies Involuntary servitude is a United States legal and Constitutional term for a person laboring against that person's will to benefit another under some form The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for those work relations especially in modern or early modern history in which people are employed against their will An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to Slavery is a social-economic system under which certain persons — known as slaves — are deprived of personal freedom and compelled to perform labour or services In Law legal status refers to the concept of individuals having a particular place in society relative to the law as it determines the laws which affect them It is either a kind of indenture or truck system, and is a form of unfree labor. An Indenture is a legal Contract between two parties particularly for indentured labour or a term of Apprenticeship but also for certain land A truck system is an arrangement in which employees are paid in commodities or in lieu of wages for work performed thereby limiting their ability to choose how to spend their earnings Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for those work relations especially in modern or early modern history in which people are employed against their will Historically, in the USA, it is also sometimes called peonage. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the (Note, however, that the word peon has broader implications and usage in Latin America. The words peon and peonage are derived from the Spanish peón (pe'on )
Debt bondage of one person to pay another's debt is called pawnage or pawn slavery, and is a common form of child labor in some parts of the world. Child labor is the employment of Children at regular and sustained labour The debt bondage of children is considered by the International Labour Organization to be one of the worst forms of child labor. The International Labour Organization The Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, known in short as the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
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Historical background to bonded labor
Prior to the early modern age, feudal and serfdom systems were the predominant political and economic systems in Europe. The early modern period is a term used by historians to refer to the period in Western '''Europe''' and its first colonies which spans the three centuries between Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed These systems were based on the holding of all land in fief or fee, and the resulting relation of lord to vassal, and was characterized by homage, legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture. Under the system of Feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing A fee is the Price one pays as Remuneration for Services especially the Honorarium paid to a doctor lawyer, Consultant Many historians have argued that this system was also established in some Latin American countries, following European settlement.
A modernization of the feudal system was "peonage", where debtors were bound in servitude to their creditors until their debts were paid. Although peons are only obliged to a creditor monetarily, it might be viewed that this relationship reduces personal autonomy.
Historical peonage
Peonage is a system where laborers are bound in servitude until their debts are paid in full. Those bound by such a system are known, in the US, as peons. Employers may extend credit to laborers to buy from employer-owned stores at inflated prices. This method is a variation of the truck system (or company store system), in which workers are exploited by agreeing to work for an insufficient amount of goods and/or services. A truck system is an arrangement in which employees are paid in commodities or in lieu of wages for work performed thereby limiting their ability to choose how to spend their earnings In these circumstances, peonage is a form of unfree labor. Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for those work relations especially in modern or early modern history in which people are employed against their will Such systems have existed in many places at many times throughout history.
Historical examples
- In Colonial America, some settlers used indentured service to obtain passage or an initial settlement, then continued working independently after completing their bonded labor.
- The American South - Such a system was often used in the southern United States after the American Civil War where African-American and poor white farmers, known as sharecroppers, were often extended credit to purchase seed and supplies from the owner of the land they farmed and pay the owner in a share of the crop. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa Sharecropping is a system of agriculture or agricultural production in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land (e
- In Peru a peonage system existed from the 1500s until land reform in the 1950s. Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. Land reforms (also Agrarian reform, though that can have a broader meaning is an often- controversial alteration in the societal arrangements whereby government One estate in Peru that existed from the late 1500s until it ended had up to 1,700 peons employed and had a jail. Peons were expected to work a minimum of three days a week for their landlord and more if necessary to complete assigned work. Workers were paid a symbolic 2 cents per year. Workers were unable to travel outside of their assigned lands without permission and were not allowed to organize any independent community activity.
Thousands of such laborers were sold into slavery during the West African slave trade and ended their lives working as slaves on the plantations in the New World. For this reason, section 2 of the Slave Trade Act 1843 enacted by the British Parliament declared "persons holden in servitude as pledges for debt" to "be slaves or persons intended to be dealt with as slaves" for the purpose of the Slave Trade Act 1824 and the Slavery Abolition Act 1833. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 (citation 3 & 4 Will IV c 73 was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing
It continued to be very common in Africa and China, but was suppressed by the authorities after the establishment of the People's Republic of China. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES It persists in rural areas of India, Pakistan and Nepal. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and Nepal (नेपाल) is a Landlocked country in South Asia.
In Niger, where the practice of slavery was outlawed in 2003, a study found that almost 8% of the population are still slaves. Niger ( or /ˈnaɪdʒɚ/) officially the Republic of Niger, is a Landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. [1] Descent-based slavery, where generations of the same family are born into bondage, is traditionally practised by at least four of Niger’s eight ethnic groups. The slave masters are mostly from the nomadic tribes — the Tuareg, Fulani, Toubou and Arabs. The Tuareg (also Twareg or Touareg, Amazigh: Imuhagh / Itargiyen, besides regional ethnyms are a Nomadic The Fula or Fulbe or Fulani (the latter being an Anglicisation of the word in their language Fulɓe) are an ethnic group of The Toubou (also called Tebu or Tubu or Tebou) are an Ethnic group that live mainly in northern Chad, but also in Libya The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding [2]
40 million people in India, most of them Dalits, are bonded workers, many working to pay off debts that were incurred generations ago. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Dalit is a self designation for group of people of South Asian descent who were traditionally regarded as untouchables or low Caste. These people work under slave-like conditions. There are no universally accepted figures for the number of bonded child labourers in India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country However, in the carpet industry alone, human rights organisations estimate that there may be as many as 300,000 children working, many of them under conditions that amount to bonded labour. A carpet is any loom-woven felted textile or grass floor covering Of 20 million bonded labourers in Pakistan 7. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and 5 million are children. [3]
Modern views
According to Anti-Slavery International, "A person enters debt bondage when their labor is demanded as a means of repayment of a loan, or of money given in advance. Anti-Slavery International is a charity and lobby group based in the United Kingdom. Usually, people are tricked or trapped into working for no pay or very little pay (in return for such a loan), in conditions which violate their human rights. Invariably, the value of the work done by a bonded laborer is greater that the original sum of money borrowed or advanced. "
According to the Anti-Slavery Society:
Pawnage or pawn slavery is a form of servitude akin to bonded labor under which the debtor provides another human being as security or collateral for the debt. Until the debt (including interest on it) is paid off, the creditor has the use of the labor of the pawn. [4]
At international law
Debt bondage has been defined by the United Nations as a form of "modern day slavery" [5] and is prohibited by international law. International law is the term commonly used for referring to the system of implicit and explicit agreements that bind together nation-states in adherence to recognized values and standards It is specifically dealt with by article 1(a) of the United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery. It persists nonetheless especially in developing nations, which have few mechanisms for credit security or bankruptcy, and where fewer people hold formal title to land or possessions. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their Creditors Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against According to some economists, for example Hernando de Soto, this is a major barrier to development in those countries - entrepreneurs do not dare take risks and cannot get credit because they hold no collateral and may burden families for generations to come. Hernando de Soto (born 1941 - 06-02) is a Peruvian Economist known for his work on the Informal economy and on the importance of An entrepreneur is a person who has possession over a company enterprise, or Venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome In lending agreements collateral is a borrower's asset that is Forfeited to the lender if the borrower is insolvent—that is unable to pay back the principal and interest on
Where children are forced to work because of debt bondage of the family, this is considered not only child labor, but a worst form of child labor in terms of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 of the International Labour Organization. Child labor is the employment of Children at regular and sustained labour The Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, known in short as the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention The International Labour Organization
Despite the UN prohibition, Anti-Slavery International estimates that "between 10 and 20 million people are being subjected to debt bondage today. "
Modern example: prostitution
News media in western Europe regularly carry reports about one particular kind of debt bondage: women from Eastern Europe who are forced to work in prostitution as a way to pay off the "debt" they acquired when they were illegally smuggled. Prostitution is the act of performing Sexual activity in exchange for Money. This form of debt bondage also takes place in other parts of the world. See article on the trafficking in human beings. Human trafficking is the recruitment transportation harbouring or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery forced labor (including bonded labor or debt bondage and servitude
Marxist analysis
According to Marxist economists, debt bondage is characteristic of feudal economies, where families are considered the responsible unit for financial relationships, and where heirs continue to owe parents' debts upon their deaths. Note Marxian economics is not restricted to Marxist economics as it includes the economic thought of those inspired by Marx's works who do not identify with Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Fully capitalist economies are characterized by the individual taking all responsibility, and such mechanisms as bankruptcy and inheritance taxes reducing creditors' rights (while increasing the power of the state). Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their Creditors Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against Estate tax and Death duty redirect here Inheritance tax, estate tax and death duty are the names given to various taxes which Heirs are freed from the creditor, but at the cost of a drastically increased power accruing to the state itself.
Debt bondage is often a form of disguised slavery in which the subject is not legally owned, but is instead bound by a contract to perform labor to work off a debt, under terms that make it impossible to completely retire the debt and thereby escape from the contract. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law Debt is that which is owed usually referencing Assets owed but the term can cover other obligations
See also
- Debtor's prison
- Indentured servant
- Karl Marx
- Peon
- Slavery
- Slavery in modern Africa
- Trafficking in human beings
- Wage slavery
- Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
- Bonded Labour Liberation Front, India
- Bondage in Pakistan
- Neocolonialism
- IMF
External links
- Photo-story on modern-day slavery (debt-bondage) in Brazil by photographer Eduardo Martino
- Human Rights Watch report on Thai women tricked into debt bondage in Japan
- 1996 Human Rights Watch report on bonded child labor in India
- Anti-Slavery International
- Common Language Project article on bonded labor in Pakistan
- Bonded child labor
- The ILO Special Action Programme to combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL)
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