3071-The political economy of new slavery

Ivan Manokha 221
impoverishment of different economies, particularly in the developing
world, whose producers are unable to sustain competition (Tabb, 1997).
For example, workers’ rights abuses and child labour in sweatshops
of multinational corporations (MNCs) in developing countries must be
seen against the background of poverty in these states and the competition
between them for foreign investment. The MNCs have been
able to find cheap labour in poor Third World states where rates of
unemployment and poverty are so high that even sweatshops with long
working hours, appalling conditions and little pay seem a better option
for many labourers than not working at all or than sticking with traditional
livelihoods. At the same time, although such treatment of workers
is universally prohibited and constitutes a violation of human rights, it
is difficult for local governments to enforce regulations on corporations
for the latter are highly mobile and may easily transfer the needed
capital elsewhere. For example, in East Asian sweatshops of such multinational
giants of the garment industry as Nike or Gap working conditions
have been in violation of many international standards (O’Brien,
2001).
Modern slavery must also be examined against this background.
In the world where enough food is produced to feed everybody, in
many countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America millions of people still
suffer from extreme poverty, hunger and disease. Today 800 million
people suffer from hunger and are undernourished. Half of the world’s
population live on less than $2 a day. The gap between rich and poor
is still growing. Today, 10 per cent of the world’s population receives
70 per cent of its income, and the richest three men on earth have
assets equal to the annual output of the 48 poorest nations. Since 1960
the polarization of income between the richest and poorest 20 per cent
has tripled, to 90 to one (UNDP, 1998). Poverty makes people vulnerable
and easier targets for slavery and trafficking as well as slave-like
employment. ‘Economic change and globalization have driven rural
people in poor countries to the cities and into debt. These impoverished
and vulnerable people are a bumper crop of potential slaves’ (Bales,
2001, p. 14). For example, in Benin, according to the US Department
of State report,
children from poor rural and less-literate families are sent away to
work as domestic and commercial helpers for wealthier relations
or employers. Many of these children end up in indentured servitude,
subjected to physical and sexual abuse. Beninese children are