scholarly journals Bonded Labor and Serfdom: A Paradox of Voluntary Choice

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garance Genicot
Keyword(s):  
Bonded Labor ◽  
Voluntary Choice

From Demand for Asiatic Labor to Importation of Indentured Chinese Labor: Race Identity in the Recruitment of Unskilled Labor for South Africa's Gold Mining Industry, 1903–1910

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
T. Huynh Tu
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Gold Mining ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Unskilled Labor ◽  
Capitalist Development ◽  
Indentured Labor ◽  
Race Identity ◽  
Bonded Labor ◽  
Chinese Labor

AbstractDespite international protests against bonded labor, the flow of indentured laborers during the 19th and early decades of the 20th centuries was extensive compared to the earlier centuries. The focus of this article is on the particularity of the “Chinese coolies experiment” in South Africa's gold mining industry which commenced in 1904. This 20th-century episode of indentured labor is notable for several reasons, and it serves as a springboard for the discussion of some fundamental issues in capitalist development, labor and identity formation. This article emphasizes the last, examining how a “Chinese” identity was formed through the development of the gold fields and, in turn, how this formation reinforced a nascent white labor aristocracy. It discusses two dimensions of this labor “experiment” in South Africa: (1) the heady debate on the decision to look to China for cheap labor and (2) desertion by the indentured Chinese laborers from various mining compounds in the Witwatersrand.

Reformist Consent and Political Obligation

1991 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 676-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Klosko
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Obligation ◽  
Political Obligations ◽  
Plausible Model ◽  
Voluntary Character ◽  
Voluntary Choice ◽  
Consent Theory

It is commonly held that theories of political obligation based on consent, whether express or tacit, cannot account for most people's obligations; that political obligations generally stem from being born into specific societies rather than from voluntary choice. In recent years, consent theorists have turned to ‘reformist’ consent, arguing that consent theory could be rescued if political institutions were reformed to allow the possibility of widespread consent. Various possible reforms are examined and shown to be inadequate. The most obvious mechanism, ‘consent-or-leave’, is disqualified because it is coercive. Other mechanisms would be unable to induce widespread consent while preserving consent's essential voluntary character. I refer to the most plausible model as ‘Hobbes's choice’, though because it must unacceptably limit non-consentors' ability to defend themselves, it too is unsatisfactory.

scholarly journals Development of discurcive power strategies in political space of Dnipro

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-44
Author(s):  
Nadiya Mikhno
Keyword(s):  
Urban Area ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Communicative Action ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Semiotic Analysis ◽  
Analytical Strategy ◽  
Power Strategies ◽  
Voluntary Choice

The article deals with defining the characteristics of the authority discourse development in modern society. The localization of the urban area has been chosen as the field of the authority discursive power strategies development. The author's scheme of authority discourse analysis in the urban area has been suggested basing on the methodological principles of a discourse-analytical strategy and involving the heuristic potential of a socio-cultural and semiotic analysis, as a result of the specific empirical study. The analysis of theoretical frames for the study of the concepts of «discourse» and «authority» has made it possible to determine a variety of communicative actions, which subject can only be the authority – an institutional discourse, namely, a political perspective. It is proposed to define a political discourse as a set of all speech acts in the appropriate institutional atmosphere, which is implemented in both oral and written forms within this study. The consideration of the background, expectations of the author and the audience, hidden motives, plot schemes etc. are provided in this article. It has been noted that it is appropriate to use the categorization approach to the «soft power» concept, which proposes to consider the power as the one which is implemented in the form of a certain communicative action. The behavior dictated by the authorities is perceived by a recipient as a voluntary choice during its relization. Such categories of the investigation as cultural mechanisms of nomination, classification, legitimation and naturalization are stressed analysing a political discourse in an urban area. The author's matrix of the analysis of the authority discourse in the urban area which includes its strategies, grammatology, idioms and the nature of their projection in discursive strategies of main subjects of discourse development has been described.

scholarly journals FEATURES OF BECOMING AND DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL AND LEISURE PRACTICES IN ANCIENT GREECE

2017 ◽  
pp. 78-83
Author(s):  
I. V. Petrova
Keyword(s):  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Greek Life ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Theatrical Performances ◽  
Strict Regulation ◽  
Political Differences ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Voluntary Choice ◽  
Political Groups ◽  
Social Collective

The analysis features of becoming and development of cultural and leisure practices in Ancient Greece is the goal of the article. The author justifies the preconditions which formed the appropriate hierarchy of life values of ancient Greek and reated the base for leisure development in Ancient Greece. It has been determined the leading preconditions such as absolute kosmolohizm, religiosity and polytheism, mental features of ancient Greeks and agon of Greek life, human cultural activity, polis political system, special perception of freedom as condition of absence of bright expressed domination over the human and strict regulation of the individual behavior, his personality initiative, existence of free time that isn't occupied by routine and care of urgent daily needs. It has been revealed the essence of such cultural and leisure practices as symposiya, gymnasiya, professional, religious and political groups, agons, theatrical performances, visiting of agora and organization of events. It has been argued that the general patriarchal orientation of Greek civilization affected the system of leisure organization in Ancient Greece. It has been justified the opinion that value of leisure was being determined by its role in the aid of social balance: between thetendencies to integration and differentiation of society and to its unification and hierarchy. Therefore, there were coexistent leisure formsconnected with the opposite social tendencies: some leisure demonstrations were acceptable for all (or for most) groups of population, they unitedand consolidated it, and others, limited by some requirements, extended social, cultural and political differences. Consequently there is a distribution of leisure practices on private (in which people could to participate according to their interests), and social (collective); obligatory (the participation was compulsory), and voluntary (choice of which depended only on desires of people); "high" (addressed only to mental and physical development of people), and "inactive" (passiverecreation, entertainment or bodily pleasure).

scholarly journals The Political Economy of Debt Bondage

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulf von Lilienfeld-Toal ◽  
Dilip Mookherjee
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Principal Agent ◽  
Debt Contracts ◽  
Debt Bondage ◽  
Pecuniary Externality ◽  
Ex Ante ◽  
Bonded Labor ◽  
Financial Obligations

What are the effects of restricting bonded labor clauses in tenancy or debt contracts? While such restrictions reduce agents' ability to credibly commit ex ante to repay principals in states where they default on their financial obligations, they also generate a pecuniary externality on other principal-agent pairs by reducing the equilibrium profit earned by principals. This turns out to imply that on both political and normative grounds, restrictions on bonded labor become more attractive when borrowers become wealthier or the range of collateral instruments widens. (JEL D82, D86, J82, K12)

Female Victims of Labor Exploitation Vis-à-Vis Labor Courts in the Southern Tamil Nadu, India

2017 ◽  
pp. 171-181
Author(s):  
R. Rochin Chandra ◽  
K. Jaishankar
Keyword(s):  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Young Female ◽  
Emotional Life ◽  
Secondary Victimization ◽  
Female Victims ◽  
Labor Exploitation ◽  
Bonded Labor ◽  
Subsequent Effect ◽  
Legal Procedures

The exploitation of young female workers is rampant in the spinning and textile units of southern Tamil Nadu, India, under the notorious ‘Sumangali Scheme', which has features similar to bonded labor. Until now, an increasing number of studies have been conducted to examine the characteristics of this abusive scheme, including the patterns of victimization and its subsequent effect on the physical health of sumangali workers. Yet, very little is known as to how legal procedures, and the roles or actions of legal actors within industrial courts, commonly known as labor courts, impacts the emotional life and psychological well being of these female laborers. In this chapter, we claim that sumangali victims often experience ‘secondary victimization' as a result of their contact with labor courts, and most often, due to their relative failure to access labor courts. We aim to address these issues from TJ perspectives and provide suitable solutions that may reduce the incidence of secondary victimization (among the sumangali victims).

Making Capitalism with Gangsters: Unfree Labor in Shanghai's Cotton Mills, 1927–1937

2018 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 107-132
Author(s):  
Wai Kit Choi
Keyword(s):  
Political Context ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Capitalist Development ◽  
Employment At Will ◽  
Labor Control ◽  
Unfree Labor ◽  
Bonded Labor ◽  
Functionalist Account ◽  
Cotton Mills ◽  
At Will

AbstractIt is thought that workers under capitalism enjoy the freedom of changing employment at will, but studies show that unfree labor has historically existed alongside capitalist development. One explanation for the use of unfree labor under capitalism highlights the functional needs of production. However, the baoshengong, a form of bonded labor that was used in cotton mills in Shanghai from 1927 to 1937, problematizes this approach. Though the baoshengong system was not an efficient mode of labor control, it was put in place. Rejecting the functionalist account, I show that capitalist unfree labor is not necessarily spurred by production requirements. As the Shanghai case will demonstrate, unfree labor was used when the power dynamics in the larger socio-political context outside the immediate abode of production—namely, the conflict and collaboration between different forms of domination such as gang, patriarchal, capitalist, and state powers—superseded the functional considerations of the capitalists.

SPORTS PREFERENCE AND DIGIT RATIO (2D:4D) AMONG FEMALE STUDENTS IN WROCŁAW, POLAND

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 623-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Kociuba ◽  
Slawomir Kozieł ◽  
Raja Chakraborty ◽  
Zofia Ignasiak
Keyword(s):  
Physical Fitness ◽  
Sensation Seeking ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Military Academy ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Prenatal Growth ◽  
Fourth Digit ◽  
Voluntary Choice ◽  
Thrill Seeking

SummaryHumans exhibit sex differences in competitiveness, sensation seeking and risk-taking attitude, which are required in sports. These attributes are often linked to prenatal testosterone (PT) exposure. The second-to-fourth digit length ratio (2D:4D) is an indicator of PT exposure. A lower 2D:4D indicates higher PT exposure and vice versa. Males generally have a lower 2D:4D than females. Sensation- and/or thrill-seeking behaviours have also been found to be negatively associated with 2D:4D. Boxing and judo are considered to be high-risk sports. Voluntary participation in judo/boxing in contrast to aerobics can be guided by such behaviours and thus have an association with lower 2D:4D. This cross-sectional study included 167 female students from a military academy in Wrocław, Poland. Of them, 119 had voluntarily chosen aerobic exercise, and 48 opted for judo/boxing. Height, weight and second and fourth digit lengths were measured. Physical fitness was assessed using Eurofit tests. The two groups showed similar physical fitness and body size. However, the judo/boxing group had significantly lower mean 2D:4D values than the aerobics group. It is proposed that voluntary choice of participation in a sport discipline by women could be linked to the ‘organizational’ effect of intrauterine testosterone exposure during prenatal growth.

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