The term "exploitation" may carry two distinct meanings:

1. The act of utilizing something for any purpose. In this case, exploit is a synonym for use.
2. The act of utilizing something in an unjust or cruel manner. It is this meaning of exploitation which is discussed below.

In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for the benefit of others. Political economy originally was the term for studying production buying and selling and their relations with law custom and government Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" This corresponds to one ethical conception of exploitation, that is, the treatment of human beings as mere means to an end — or as mere "objects". Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life In different terms, "exploitation" refers to the use of people as a resource, with little or no consideration of their well-being. In economic theory factors of production (or productive inputs) are the resources employed to produce goods and services This can take the following basic forms:

• taking something off a person or group that rightfully belongs to them
• short-changing people in trade
• directly or indirectly forcing somebody to work
• using somebody against his will, or without his consent or knowledge
• imposing an arbitrary differential treatment of people to the advantage of some and the disadvantage of others (as in ascriptive discrimination)

Most often, the word exploitation is used to refer to economic exploitation; that is, the act of using another person's labor without offering them an adequate compensation. Unlike most discrimination policies discrimination between, which is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences focused here discrimination against is There are two major perspectives on economic exploitation:

• organizational or "micro-level" exploitation: in the broad tradition of liberal economic thinking, most theories of exploitation center on the market power of economic organizations within a market setting. Liberalism is a broad array of related ideas and theories of Government that consider individual Liberty to be the most important political goal In Economics, market power is the ability of a firm to alter the Market price of a good or service Some neoclassical theory points to exploitation not based on market power. The term " exploitation " may carry two distinct meanings The act of utilizing something for any purpose
• structural or "macro-level" exploitation: "new liberal" theories focus on exploitation by large sections of society even (or especially) in the context of free markets. The term " exploitation " may carry two distinct meanings The act of utilizing something for any purpose A free market is a Market in which property rights are voluntarily exchanged at a price arranged completely by the mutual consent of sellers and buyers Marxist theory points to the entire capitalist class as an exploitative entity, and to capitalism as a system based on exploitation. The term " exploitation " may carry two distinct meanings The act of utilizing something for any purpose Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where

Theories of exploitation

The act of using, or taking advantage of, a thing or things. 

The focus of most assertions about the existence of exploitation towards human beings is the socio-economic phenomenon where people trade their labor or allegiance to a powerful entity, such as the state, a corporation or any other private company. Socioeconomics or socio-economics is the study of the relationship between economic activity and Social life. A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population. A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business The term privately held company refers to ownership of a business company in two different ways first referring to ownership by non-governmental organizations and second Some theories of exploitation (Marxist, new liberal) are structural, while others are organizational (neoclassical).

Marxist theory

See also: Rate of exploitation

In Marxism, the kinds of exploitation described by other theories (see further below) are usually called "super-exploitation" — exploitation that goes beyond the normal standards of exploitation prevalent in capitalist society. The rate of exploitation is a concept in Marxian Political economy. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where While other theories emphasize the exploitation of one individual by an organization (or vice versa), the Marxist theory is primarily concerned with the exploitation of an entire segment or class of society by another. Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in Societies or Cultures. This kind of exploitation is seen as being an inherent feature and key element of capitalism and free markets. In fact, in Das Kapital, Karl Marx typically assumed the existence of purely competitive markets. In general, it is argued that the greater the "freedom" of the market, the greater the power of capital, and the greater the scale of exploitation. The perceived problem is with the structural context in which free markets operate (detailed below). The proposed solution is the abolition of capitalism and its replacement by a better, non-exploitative, system of production and distribution (first socialism, and then, after a certain period of time, communism). Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based

In the Marxist view, "normal" exploitation is based in three structural characteristics of capitalist society:

1. the ownership of the means of production by a small minority in society, the capitalists;
2. the inability of non-property-owners (the workers, proletarians) to survive without selling their labor-power to the capitalists (in other words, without being employed as wage laborers);
3. the state, which uses its strength to protect the unequal distribution of power and property in society. Means Of Production is a compilation of Aim 's early 12" and EP releases recorded between 1995 and 1998 A state is a political association with effective Sovereignty over a geographic Area and representing a Population.

Because of these human-made institutions, workers have little or no choice but to pay the capitalists surplus-value (profits, interest, and rent) in exchange for their survival. Surplus value is a concept created by Karl Marx in his critique of Political economy, where its ultimate source is unpaid Surplus labor They enter the realm of production, where they produce commodities, which allow their employers to realize that surplus-value as profit. A commodity is anything for which there is demand but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market They are always threatened by the "reserve army of the unemployed". Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. In brief, the profit gained by the capitalist is the difference between the value of the product made by the worker and the actual wage that the worker receives; in other words, capitalism functions on the basis of paying workers less than the full value product of their labor. For more on this view, see the discussion of the labor theory of value. The labor theories of value (LTV are theories in Economics according to which the values of Commodities are related to the labor needed to

Some Marxian theories of imperialism extend this kind of structural theory of exploitation further, positing exploitation of poor countries by rich capitalist ones (or by transnational corporations). Imperialism has two meanings one describing an action and the other describing an attitude Some Marxist-feminists use a Marxian-style theory to understand relations of exploitation under patriarchy, while others see a kind of exploitation analogous to the Marxian sort as existing under institutional racism. Marxist feminism is a sub-type of Feminist theory which focuses on the dismantling of Capitalism as a way to liberate women Patriarchy is the structuring of Society on the basis of Family units where fathers have primary responsibility for the welfare of hence authority over Institutional Racism (or structural racism or systemic racism) refers to a form of Racism which occurs specifically in institutions such as public

Neoclassical theories

In neoclassical economics, exploitation is organizational, explained using microeconomic theory. Neoclassical economics is a term variously used for approaches to Economics focusing on the determination of prices outputs and income distributions in markets Neoclassical economics is a term variously used for approaches to Economics focusing on the determination of prices outputs and income distributions in markets Microeconomics is a branch of Economics that studies how individuals households and firms and some states make decisions to allocate limited resources typically in markets It is a kind of market failure, a deviation from the abstraction of perfect competition. Market failure is a concept within economic theory wherein the allocation of goods and services by a Free market is not efficient. In Neoclassical economics and Microeconomics, perfect competition describes a market in which no buyer or seller has Market power. The most common scenario is a monopsony or a monopoly. In Economics, a monopsony (from Ancient Greek μόνος (monos "single" + ὀψωνία (opsōnia "purchase" is a Market form In Economics, a monopoly (from Greek monos, alone or single + polein, to sell exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient These exploiters have bargaining power. Bargaining power is a concept related to the relative abilities of parties in a situation to exert influence over each other This kind of exploitation is supposed to be abolished by the spread of competition and markets.

Other neoclassical theories go beyond simple organizational exploitation. First, another type of exploiter is the hired "agent" (employee) who takes advantage of the "principal" (employer) who hires him or her, under conditions of asymmetric information (see the principal-agent problem). In political science and Economics, the principal-agent problem or agency dilemma treats the difficulties that arise under conditions of incomplete and asymmetric For example, a clerk may be able to "shirk" on the job, secretly violating the labor contract. Similarly, an executive may embezzle funds, which is also contrary to the interests of the stockholders. This kind of exploitation is beyond the scope of markets, within corporate or governmental bureaucratic organizations. Bureaucracy is the structure and set of regulations in place to control activity usually in large organizations and government It is often extremely hard to solve using competition and markets but is instead addressed using monitoring of employees and management, risk-sharing agreements, bonding, and the like. Risk is a Concept that denotes the precise probability of specific eventualities A surety bond is a Contract among at least three parties The principal - the primary party who will be performing a contractual obligation The obligee

A final type of neoclassical exploiter is the free rider who unfairly uses a public good or resource. In Economics, Collective bargaining, Psychology and Political science, "free riders" are those who consume more than their fair share of a resource Since taxes are typically used to pay for the maintenance of public lands or resources, a person who benefits from the public good but does not pay taxes for it might be considered a free rider. Such exploitation of public goods or resources is known as the Tragedy of the Commons. Many neoclassical economists believe that where possible the introduction of private property rights would allieviate the overconsumption, i. The Tragedy of the Commons is the title of an influential article written by Garrett Hardin, first published in the journal Science in 1968. e. , exploitation. [1][2][3]

New liberal theories

For others, i. Social liberalism, also called new liberalism (as it was originally termed high liberalism radical liberalism, modern liberalism, or e. , a number of "new liberals", exploitation naturally coexists with free markets. In Neoclassical economics and Microeconomics, perfect competition describes a market in which no buyer or seller has Market power. As in the Marxist theory, the problem is structural rather than organizational: given its special position in society (controlling an important asset), an interest group can shift the distribution of income in its direction, impoverishing the rest, even though their role serves no reasonable purpose. An interest group (also advocacy group, lobby group, pressure group or special interest group) is an organized collection of people who seek While Henry George pointed to land-owners, John Maynard Keynes saw rentiers (non-working owners of financial wealth) as fitting this picture. Henry George ( September 2, 1839 &ndash October 29, 1897) was an American Political economist and the most influential proponent of John Maynard Keynes 1st Baron Keynes CB (ˈkeɪnz "cains" (5 June 1883 &ndash 21 April 1946 was a British Economist whose ideas The first receive land-rent while the second receive interest, even though, according to the proponents of this theory, they contribute nothing to society. They merely own a certain asset and have the ability to make money from that asset without actually doing any work themselves. While George argued for a "single tax" on land-rent to solve this problem, Keynes hoped that interest rates could be driven to zero. "Georgist" redirects here For the Romanian political group see National Liberal Party-Brătianu.

In some ways, these theories are similar to the Marxist one discussed above. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. However, they deal with the power and influence of special interests in society (and within the capitalist class) rather than dealing with a structural difference in class position of the Marxian sort. An interest group (also advocacy group, lobby group, pressure group or special interest group) is an organized collection of people who seek Further, while Marx saw exploitation as raising the total amount of production in capitalist society, in these theories exploitation represents a form of waste or inefficiency, hurting growth under capitalism. The term inefficiency has several meanings depending on the context in which its used Allocative inefficiency - Allocative efficiency theory Therefore, according to this view, abolishing rent or interest would make

Exploitation in developing nations

Developing nations (commonly called "third world countries" or "poor countries") are the focus of much debate over the issue of exploitation, particularly in the context of the global economy. Developing countries are countries that haven't reached Western-style standards of democratic government free market economy industrialization social programs and human rights guaranties Third World is a name given to nations that are generally considered to be underdeveloped economically

Critics of foreign companies allege, for instance, that firms such as Nike and Gap Inc. resort to child labor and sweatshops in developing nations, paying their workers wages far lower than those that prevail in developed nations (where the products are sold). Nike Inc ('naɪki ( is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The Gap Incorporated ( is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in San Francisco California, and founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher Child labor is the employment of Children at regular and sustained labour A sweatshop is a working environment with very difficult or dangerous conditions usually where the workers have few rights or ways to address their situation Developing countries are countries that haven't reached Western-style standards of democratic government free market economy industrialization social programs and human rights guaranties The term developed country, or advanced country, is used to categorize countries with developed Economies in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors This, it is argued, is insufficient to allow workers to attain the local subsistence standard of living if working hours common in the first world are observed, so that working hours much longer than in the first world are necessary. The term " first world " refers to countries that are capitalist, which are technologically advanced and whose It is also argued that work conditions in these developing-world factories are much less safe and much more unhealthy than in the first world. For example, observers point to cases where employees were unable to escape factories burning down — and thus dying — because of locked doors, a common signal that sweatshop conditions exist. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 was another example, but it occurred in the US, so the first world of then is the equivalent of the third world of today. The term " first world " refers to countries that are capitalist, which are technologically advanced and whose Third World is a name given to nations that are generally considered to be underdeveloped economically

Others argue that, in the absence of compulsion, the only way that corporations are able to secure adequate supplies of labor is to offer wages and benefits superior to preexisting options, and that the presence of workers in corporate factories indicates that the factories present options which are seen as better — by the workers themselves — than the other options available to them (see principle of revealed preference). Revealed preference theory, pioneered by American Economist Paul Samuelson, is a method by which it is possible to discern the best possible option on the If the "exploitation" were to be stopped, the "victims" would be much worse off.

A common response is that this is disingenuous, as the companies are in fact exploiting people by the terms of unequal human standards (applying lower standards to their third world workers than to their first world ones). Furthermore, the argument goes, if people choose to work for low wages and in unsafe conditions because it is their only alternative to starvation or scavenging from garbage dumps (the "preexisting options"), this cannot be seen as any kind of "free choice" on their part. This viewpoint also argues that if a company intends to sell its products in the first world, it should pay its workers by first world standards.

Following such a view, some in the United States propose that the U. S. government should mandate that businesses in foreign countries adhere to the same labor, environmental, health, and safety standards as the U. S. before they are allowed to trade with businesses in the U. S. (this has been advocated by Howard Dean, for example). Howard Brush Dean III, (born November 17 1948 is an American They believe that such standards would improve the quality of life in less developed nations. According to others, however, this would harm the economies of less developed nations by discouraging the U. S. from trading with them. Milton Friedman is an economist who thinks that such a policy would have that effect. Milton Friedman (July 31 1912 November 16 2006 was an American Nobel Laureate Economist and Public intellectual. [4]

However, the common response to the argument that corporations exploit poor laborers by lowering working standards, wages, etc. is that the corporation only has an incentive to do business in these nations if there is this alleged "exploitation. " If activists were to achieve their goal of raising work standards, it is likely that the corporation would no longer have a profit incentive to invest in that nation. The result would probably the corporation pulling back to its developed nation, leaving their former workers out of the job.

Groups who see themselves as fighting against global exploitation also point to secondary effects such as the dumping of government-subsidized corn on developing world markets which forces subsistence farmers off of their lands, sending them into the cities or across borders in order to survive. More generally, some sort of international regulation of transnational corporations is called for, such as the enforcement of the International Labour Organization's labor standards. Multinational corporation ( MNC) or transnational corporation ( TNC) is a Corporation or enterprise that manages Production or delivers The International Labour Organization

External links

• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on exploitation
• Encyclopedia of Marxism entry on exploitation
• New Deal Exploitation
• UN.GIFT - Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking

See also

• Animal abuse
• Artist exploitation
• Capital accumulation
• Unequal exchange
• Child labor and Worst forms of child labour
• Working poor
• Child sexual exploitation
• Corporate abuse
• Exploitation of natural resources
• Fair trade
• Free trade
• Globalization
• Marx's theory of alienation
• Rate of exploitation
• Labor theory of value
• Social criticism
• Slavery
• Indentured servant
• Sharecropping
• Surplus labour
• Surplus value
• Surplus product
• Sweatshop
• Trafficking in human beings
• Wage labour
• Wage slavery