Corporate labor and the sweatshop

Abstract

United States economist Michael Watts said in the film, The End of Poverty? that "capitalism cannot operate without free labor." The term free labor has evolved in meaning over the centuries. In Feudal Europe, free laborers were known as serfs who worked the land in return for protection. During the colonization of America, free labor took the form of slavery. Slaves were forced to work in exchange for food and shelter. Recently, free labor has taken on a new definition around the globe. Cheap labor or sweatshop labor is the new free labor that drives modern capitalism.

In its most basic form, capitalism is an economic system in which property, goods, and services are privately owned. Prices, production, and distribution of goods are determined by competition in a free market. (Conley). Ideally, capitalism should benefit the masses, but capitalism has lead to the extreme stratification of wealth. For example, "the richest 20 of the world's population holds 82.7 of the world's income, whereas the poorest 60 of the world's population accounts for only 4.6 of the world's income" (Conley). The rift between the capitalist class and the working class has caused exploitation between employers and laborers. Employers take more capital from laborers than they repay in wages.

This phenomenon has grown to infinite proportions with the rise of the corporation. As legal entities, corporations such as Apple and Nike have become so powerful that they have displaced religions and governments in their hunt for economic control. Corporations drive the rapidly globalizing capitalistic economy. Corporations employ millions of people and are purely self-interested in making profits.