scholarly journals Editorial: From Exceptional Cases to Everyday Abuses: Labour exploitation in the global economy

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Joel Quirk ◽  
Caroline Robinson ◽  
Cameron Thibos

This article introduces a special issue on economic systems and everyday abuses of labour rights. In recent decades, neoliberal policies have transformed both the world economy and the world of work. Hard-won rights and protections have been eroded by deregulation, outsourcing, and subcontracting. New forms of unstable, isolated, and insecure work have emerged. This introduction examines the driving forces behind the increasing prominence of precarious work, the accelerating role of migrant labour within global economic systems, and the political relationship between everyday abuses and forms of severe exploitation which have recently come to be defined as human trafficking and modern slavery. We argue that a singular focus upon individual cases of extreme exploitation is unlikely to be effective, and can also draw attention away from the larger systems, interests, and abuses that are associated with the smooth and regular operations of the global economy. We also suggest that at least some of the energies which have recently been expended debating the contentious category of ‘modern slavery’ could be usefully redirected towards lower profile interventions concerned with worker and migrant rights. There are never going to be simple or straightforward solutions to labour abuses, so it is necessary to take many bumpy paths simultaneously, with small steps forward and some steps backward.

2013 ◽  
pp. 97-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Apokin

The author compares several quantitative and qualitative approaches to forecasting to find appropriate methods to incorporate technological change in long-range forecasts of the world economy. A?number of long-run forecasts (with horizons over 10 years) for the world economy and national economies is reviewed to outline advantages and drawbacks for different ways to account for technological change. Various approaches based on their sensitivity to data quality and robustness to model misspecifications are compared and recommendations are offered on the choice of appropriate technique in long-run forecasts of the world economy in the presence of technological change.


Author(s):  
Genevieve LeBaron

This introductory Chapter provides an overview of the political, methodological, and ethical challenges of researching forced labour in the global economy tackled in this Volume. It argues that in spite of these challenges, researchers are pioneering fresh approaches to understanding the business of forced labour that are anchored in strong empirical methods, rather than outdated theoretical propositions or sensationalist newspaper headlines. This burgeoning and interdisciplinary body of research challenges conventional narratives about the nature and role of modern slavery. It reveals that rather than an individualised, randomly occurring human rights issue caused by the moral shortcomings and greed of unscrupulous employers, severe labour exploitation is a coherent and predictable feature of many sectors and regions within the global political economy. The methodological reflections contained within this Volume offer a resource for academics and practitioners seeking to understand forced labour, the factors that shape vulnerability to this phenomenon, and the variegated mechanisms through which businesses systemically profit from labour exploitation.


Author(s):  
Anna Zorska

The article aims at an analysis of changes in development of globalization which took place during the 2007-2008 crisis and the following years of the economic slowdown. The analysis is conducted against the background of the situation in the world economy and includes investigation of changes (dynamics and structures) in global flows of merchandise, exports of services and foreign direct investments. The structural transformation of global flows indicates the increasing share and role of China in the world economy. The significance of transnational corporations in the globalization process calls for portraying the evolution of their activity and relations with nation states and other groups of economic actors. Attention is drawn to changes in the set and forces of key globalization factors, including technological progress (in the age of information revolution), economic, social and demographic as well as political factors. The increasing impacts of evolving States' policies and socio-demographic situation on trends in the global economy are acknowledged. The transformation of globalization factors considerably affects the development and evolution (or metamorphosis) of the investigated process. Six signs of the initiated metamorphosis of globalization, which indicate possible intensification and direction of changes in the futurę development of the process, are discussed


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (72) ◽  
pp. 333-349
Author(s):  
Mircea COȘEA

Coronavirus has generated changes and mutations not only in the conduct of our daily lives, but also in the organization and functioning of the economic mechanism at national and global level.The rapid changes and shifts that are taking place in the economy are for the moment the result of the political mainstream, especially the governmental one, and of the system of internationalfinancial institutions. What is visible and certain is the elimination of some limits in giving up ideological principles and established rules of the functioning of the economic mechanism. Thus, the neoclassical ideology, the foundation of the whole scaffolding of the global economic policies, easily compromises by admitting that in the current conditions state interventionism has a more  important role than free market laws in counteracting the effects of the pandemic on the economy. This process easily went beyond the regulations of the liberalization of trade in goods, returning to protectionism with nationalist accents as well as to bans on food and medicine exports. The principle of European solidarity is being threatened by unilateral decisions taken by Member States, or by the abandonment of European agreements in order to replace them by national decisions. Globalization was based on the imperative to produce, sell and buy, move, circulate, move on. Its ideology of progress is based on the idea that the economy must definitely replace politics. The essence of the system was the abolishment of limits: more trade, more and more goods, more and more profits to allow money to circulate and turn into capital. This whole concept of development has ceased to be the guiding principle of economic growth and development, thecurrent trend being the return to national borders, if not in a strictly territorial sense, at least in an economic sense. That is why one of the important changes of recent months is the emergence of policies designedto change the meaning of supply chains. Rethinking supply chains is a consequence of border closures or of the sudden closure of transport. It is a critical point of pressure that weighs mainly on car manufacturers and capitalgoods. As a result, there will be a trend of relocating production to European or Maghreb countries where wages remain lower than the European average. Another quick and important change is the one related to the role of the state in the economy, neoliberalism successfully promoting throughout the global economy the idea of the need for the limited role of state decision and state interventionism in the economy. The current change consists precisely in reversing the role of the state from passivity to activity, considered as the only one capable of ensuring an efficient system for managing the pandemic and restarting the economy. For many analysts, the coronavirus crisis could lead to a profound change in the global economic model and in the individual economic behavior.This is an extremely important issue also from the perspective of Romania's future. We are at a turning point and will have to make quick and complex decisions, because Romania risks entering a post-crisis period in an economic stagnation difficult to overcome, due to the lack ofproductivity, innovation and modern management. The gaps between Romania and the vast majority of European countries will be maintained, condemning us to occupy a marginal and lower place in the hierarchy of the European economy, characterized by a high and dangerous degree of dependence on the evolution and dynamics of markets in the strong states of the European Union. The explanation of this situation lies in the type and functioning of the structure of the Romanian economy. The current structure of the Romanian economy lies on the last concentric circle of European integration, if its center is considered the western core of theEU. There is no doubt about this inevitability. The crisis caused by the pandemic already exists and despite the optimism of some international financial institutions it will profoundly affect the state of the world economy and the life of the citizens. There will be not only major changes in the paradigm of the neoliberal model of the global economy but also changes in the balance of power between the world's major economic and political actors. The trade war between the USA and China is also beginning to have important political aspects, as the fight for world leadership between these two superpowers is generating tensions over the entire world. These tensions will surely have many "collateral victims" through the direct and indirect damage that many national economies, even the European Union, will suffer, as a result of the economicand political consequences of the US and China entering a state that some Western analysts define as " a cold war but with a tendency to warm up". These elements will aggravate the pressure that the pandemic crisis will put on the state of the world economy, determining the extent and depth of the effects of the crisis not only on the economic field but also on the balance and stability of international relations.Keywords: coronavirus crisis; value chains; multilateralism-unilateralism; protectionism, neoliberal global economic model. 


2020 ◽  
pp. 251484862090238
Author(s):  
Nicholas Beuret

The only existing plans to arrest dangerous climate change depend on either yet to be invented technologies to keep us below 2°C or on crashing the world economy for decades to come. The political choice appears to be between doing what is scientifically necessary or what is politically realistic; between shifting to an entirely different kind of global socio-economic system or suffering catastrophe. We are thus in a moment of governmental impasse, caught between old and still-emerging political rationalities. Working through the liminal governmental role of environmental non-governmental organisations, this paper explores the shift from governmental regimes centred on biopower to ones that work through the register of geopower, from governing life to governing the conditions of life. Confronted with climate change as an irresolvable problem, what we find emerging are techniques that aim to contain the worst effects of climate change without fundamentally transforming the global economy.


Author(s):  
Yuriy Gumenyuk

The role of ensuring the economy of the country as factors of production for its competitiveness in the world markets of goods and services is substantiated. It is proved that the artificial reduction of the share in the production function of one of the factors leads to an increase in its price (share) in the national product. This gave a chance to scientifically and methodologically substantiate the position according to which emerging market countries must form an effective aggregate demand through the formation of the middle class and any slowing down in this direction leads to cur­tailment of economic development. Instead, the uneven distribution of the global economy is spreading and the death penalty is formed, which consumption costs are motivated by scientific and technological progress.


2020 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 01052
Author(s):  
Oleg Kalenov ◽  
Sergey Kukushkin ◽  
Galina Bolkina

The role of the mining industry in the world economy is enormous, since its branches are the most important source of industrial raw materials, without which the intensive growth of modern industry would be completely impossible. However, the technologies used in it are not always innovative. Despite the fact that the mining industry occupies a fairly small percentage in the structure of the world economy and does not exceed 10%, it is an important source of income for many states, including Russia. However, the changes that are now observed in the global economy require new approaches to organizing activities. Despite its profitability, this industry is quite difficult to manage. The way from the extraction of raw materials to their end user is very complicated and depends on many conditions. For the successful integration of the Russian mining industry into new economic realities, it is necessary to intensify innovative processes by investing financial resources in new equipment and high technology. At the same time, acceleration of the development of the mining industry can be achieved in the chain “mining industry - processing industry” through the introduction and use of nanotechnology, which can significantly improve the quality of raw materials.


2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehmet Bulut

AbstractThe present paper focuses on the role of the Ottomans and Dutch in the early commercial integration between the Levant and Atlantic in the seventeenth century. As an expanding trading nation in the world economy, the Dutch Republic played an important role in the commercial integration between the provinces of the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe. The growth of Ottoman-Dutch economic relations in the seventeenth century followed the growth of economic relations between the provinces of the Empire and Western Europe.Therefore, the two world economic systems, the Ottoman and Western European economy increasingly opened to each other. Le présent article examine les rôles respectifs des Ottomans et des Néerlandais dans le début de l'intégration commerciale entre le Levant et l'Océan Atlantique au XVIIème siècle. Nation commerciale en expansion dans l'économie mondiale, la République hollandaise a joué un rôle important dans l'intégration commerciale des provinces de l'Empire Ottoman à l'Europe Occidentale dans la même période. La croissance des relations économiques entre le monde ottoman et la Hollande au XVIIème siècle a suivi la progression des échanges entre l'Empire et l'Europe occidentale. En conséquence, les deux systèmes économiques du monde se sont de plus en plus ouverts l'un à l'autre.


Author(s):  
Andrey Pilipenko ◽  
Zoya Pilipenko

This chapter represents an attempt to analyze the role of shocks (impulses) in business cycles in the world economy in connection with the global financial crises of the late 2000s. The theoretical explanation of the origin of any economic shock (external impulse), of economic systems' reaction to it, as well as of the way the global shocks spread its influence all over the world suggests that the analytical predictions of E. Slutsky and R. Frish can be correct. The results provide some evidence for the hypothesis that the cyclical model of development of any economic system means its adjustment to new conditions caused by external impulses (shocks). To reinforce the findings, some results associated with other theoretical investigations and analytical researches are presented.


Author(s):  
Tetyana Yasinska ◽  
Marta Naychuk-Khrushch

In recent decades, the world economy has been actively moving towards an integrated global economic system, characterized by the reduction of barriers to international trade and investment, "reduction" of distances through the development of modern means of transportation and communication, smoothing cultural differences. This process, called globalization, has become an integral feature of the world economy in recent decades. However, in 2020, the globalization process was affected by quarantine restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The study of the features and consequences of such influence is especially relevant given that globalization processes form the environment for the functioning of the subjects of international economic relations. The article analyzes the features and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on globalization processes in the world economy. The essence of globalization and its key features, opportunities and threats of the globalization process for international business entities are revealed, the driving forces of globalization are revealed. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the dynamics of international trade and world gross domestic product is analyzed. The forecast values of these indicators for 2021-2022, presented by the World Trade Organization, are revealed. The key aspects of the policy of governments in a pandemic are highlighted. The impact of quarantine restrictions on transport and migration worldwide has been demonstrated. The state and prospects of world investments after the pandemic are assessed. Of particular note is the fact that the vast majority of international companies, despite the severe consequences of the pandemic for their activities, have not begun to break their international ties with contractors and focus on domestic production. The production chains of multinational corporations, built over the years to ensure high efficiency, did not break down due to the temporary difficulties associated with the pandemic. This is an important indicator that allows us to say that there are no significant prerequisites for expecting active deglobalization processes in the world. In view of the research, the conclusions on the slowdown of the global economy under the influence of the pandemic and the absence of signs of active deglobalization are formulated and substantiated.


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