Exploitation Conditions Research Articles

Re-politicising Anti-Trafficking: Migration, labour, and the war in Ukraine

Drawing on multi-method research, this article demonstrates that the risks of large-scale trafficking due to the war in Ukraine were mitigated by granting Ukrainians more extensive rights than typically afforded to refugees. This shows the advantages of rights-based approaches to migration and labour exploitation. We draw on Bakhtin’s and Žižek’s work on the carnivalesque to argue that mainstream anti-trafficking initiatives—which are depoliticised and able to win support and funding from across the political spectrum—often serve merely as theatrical and distracting sideshows diverting attention from more impactful activities and the normalised exploitation within capitalism. However, avoiding trafficking is insufficient if Ukrainian citizens and residents still endure exploitative conditions. A weakened legal framework for workers’ rights within Ukraine alongside inadequate labour protections across Europe have facilitated such exploitation. In contrast to the depoliticised stance of the anti-trafficking industry, this article concludes that more explicitly political actions supporting migrants’ rights, workers’ rights, and access to welfare and public services will not only more effectively challenge trafficking but also prevent other exploitation of migrants.

Writing Back Against Amazon’s Empire: Science Fiction, Corporate Storytelling, and the Dignity of the Workers’ Word

Since its founding in 1994 as an online bookstore, Amazon has “revolutionised” not only the market for literature but also expanded aggressively and transformatively in sectors including consumer retail, film and television, groceries, logistics, robotics, surveillance, AI, and web services. This growth and expansion is grounded in the firm’s internal and outward-facing rhetoric about its leading contribution to a brighter future, a narrative deeply inspired by the genre of science or speculative fiction (SF). But Amazon’s utopian vision is largely experienced as a dystopia by most of its rank-and-file workers, who labour under exploitative conditions of surveillance, robotization, and relentless managerial control. Hence our team inaugurated the Worker as Futurist project to support rank-and-file Amazon workers to read/watch SF stories to collectively understand their employer and its world, and also to write short, SF stories about “the world after Amazon.” In this preliminary report on the project, we explain the inspirations for the project and reflect on some of what we have learned from the participants, as well as some implications for the futures of platform workers generally.

Precarious Work and Housing for Michigan Farmworkers During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

ABSTRACT Objectives Farmworkers in Michigan face precarious and exploitative labor conditions that affect their access to affordable, fair, and quality housing, which are key social determinants of health. We sought to assess the health, working conditions, and housing access, affordability, and quality of farmworkers living in and outside of employer-provided housing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a mixed methods cross-sectional study in collaboration with community partners from the Michigan Farmworker Project and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. We assessed housing, labor conditions, and general health through in-depth phone interviews with seasonal, migrant, and H-2A farmworkers (n = 63) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2021) in Michigan. Descriptive analyses of these data included comparisons by type of farmworker and type of housing (employer-provided or other). Results The majority of farmworkers interviewed were women and seasonal farmworkers and spoke primarily Spanish. A significant share of farmworker participants reported living in poverty (38.3%) and had low or very low food security (27.0%). Nearly half of farmworkers (47.6%) rated their health as “fair” or “poor” during the year prior to the interview, and more than a third reported 3 or more chronic conditions (39.6%) and lack of health insurance coverage (38.7%). Among the 43 workers tested, 25.6% reported testing positive for COVID-19. Farmworkers reported experiences of objectification and dehumanization. Three-quarters of workers reported feeling that they were treated as less than human by supervisors and one-third reported verbal abuse. Farmworkers also experienced challenges exacerbated by their social vulnerability that impeded them from finding affordable, quality housing. Regarding housing quality, the majority of workers (80.6%) reported one or more environmental hazards around their residence, and about a third reported not having air conditioning (33.%) and lacking a functioning washing machine (33.9%). Concerns about the quality of drinking water accessible to workers and exposure to chemicals were shared by participants. Conclusion This study adds valuable knowledge to the understanding of the systemic barriers to housing and work conditions for female and male seasonal, migrant, and H-2A farmworkers in Michigan. Shortcomings in the regulatory and policy environment result in precarious housing and work conditions, including exploitative labor practices. These conditions negate equality, fairness, and health equity, important tenants for public health.

Introduction

Abstract This essay introduces the special issue with a critique of Cedric Robinson’s heuristic, “racial capitalism,” and a discussion of our titular intervention: “reproductive racial capitalism.” The essay is necessarily grounded in the reproductive crisis of the present day. It centers the histories and afterlives of hereditary racial slavery and the radical contestations and refusals of its logics. Overall, it argues that contemporary racial capitalism is always already reproductive. Reproductive labor and the experiences of conception, gestation, parturition, and childrearing are the heart and engine of both slave racial capitalism and contemporary forms of reproductive racial capitalism. They are also the sites from which reproductive racial capitalism and its exploitative conditions were contested under slavery, are being challenged in the present moment, and yet might be altogether refused in the future.

Child Labour in Saurashtra Region of Gujarat State

Child labour is one of the most pressing social problems which the international community has been facing. Children are an important asset not only for their country but for the whole of mankind. They are not merely future adults. They are tiny apostles of peace and above all very much human beings though weak and immature. In almost all societies, children work in some way, though the types of work they do and the forms of their involvement vary. But many millions of children work under abusive and exploitative conditions that are clearly dangerous to them. There are still a large number of children who are employed in rag picking, collection of raw hides and skins, leather flaying and tanning, accompanying their parents for deep sea fishing, fish processing and storage, collection of minor forest produce, etc., that have not been brought within the ambit of the prohibited category.

Biological indicators and commercial exploitation of main fish and river crayfish species of the Zaporizhzhia (Dnipro) reservoir

Aim: To analyze and summarize the biological indicators of the main industrial fish and river crayfish species in the Zaporizhzhia (Dnipro) reservoir under conditions of fishery exploitation. Methods: Biological analysis of fish was conducted according to classical methods in ichthyology, using the following parameters: standard and absolute body length, individual mass, gender, feeding coefficient. Crayfish, caught in fishing gear, underwent morphometric measurements to determine individual mass and gender. Biological sampling was carried out during the vegetation period of 2023 during both control and commercial fishing in the Zaporizhzhia (Dnipro) reservoir at three sites differing in hydrology and degree of anthropogenic impact. Research results: According to the data from the Department of the State Agency of Reclamation and Fisheries Management in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, during 2023, 140,504 tons of fish were caught in the Zaporizhzhia (Dnipro) reservoir, nearly 8 times less than in 2021. In 2021, 1078.25 tons of aquatic resources were caught, which is 8 % less than in 2020. Silver carp was the dominant fish species in 2022, accounting for 80.5 % of the total catch in the reservoir. Herbivorous fish species accounted for 5.4 % of the catch, roach - 3.3 %, bream - 2.3 %, perch - 2.0 %. Based on the conducted research, recommendations have been provided regarding the establishment of forecasts and limits for the extraction of aquatic resources from the Zaporizhzhia (Dnipro) reservoir for the year 2024. Conclusions: The Zaporizhzhia (Dnipro) reservoir has potential for the development of fishing, fish farming, and aquaculture in the Prydniprovsky region. The research results suggest that limits can be set on the catch of certain fish species: bream- up to 210 tons, pike-perch - up to 42 tons, roach - up to 350 tons, and perch - up to 138 tons. However, the catch of silver carp, bleak, sprat, herbivorous fish, and sun-perch is recommended to be unrestricted. The forecasted catch of crayfish is within 1 ton. The catch of other aquatic resources should also be conducted within forecasted levels

He’s No Spartacus: Jesus, Slavery, and the Utopian Imagination

Abstract James Crossley and Robert Myles’s Jesus: A Life in Class Conflict is a considerable accomplishment in its situation of Jesus as a figure inseparable from the material conditions of labor exploitation. The present review discusses two topics that the book touches upon only briefly, but linger under the surface of their analysis: Jesus’ treatment of enslaved laborers and utopian social experimentation. This article juxtaposes Jesus with the roughly contemporaneous figure of Spartacus to consider about the availability of social experimentation and the location of slaves within class-based analyses of Roman antiquity.

Corrosion behavior of high- and low-chromium steel grinding balls in chloride solution

The corrosion behaviour of three types of alloys (two low-alloy carbon steel and one stainless iron with ~15 wt.% Cr), in a solution which simulates seawater (3% NaCl solution, pH 8.1) was tested. Tested samples are used to make steel (iron) balls applied in mils for grinding copper and other ore. The corrosion tests were performed using three electrochemical methods, at room temperature in the presence of atmospheric oxygen. The linear polarization resistance (LPR) method, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) method, and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) method were applied. Based on measurements by LPR and EIS methods (as non-destructive methods), the value of polarization resistance (Rp) was determined and the general corrosion rate (vcorr) of the examined samples was calculated. The obtained values of the general corrosion rate can be used to calculate the service life of steel (iron) balls under exploitation conditions (seawater). The appearance of the surface after linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) measurement showed the presence of localized corrosion (pits were formed) of the tested samples, especially stainless iron, and the LSV method is not suitable for the determination of the general corrosion rate of tested samples in seawater. This form of corrosion occurs at high anodic polarizations, during performing LSV measurements.

Translators in the platform economy: a decent work perspective

ABSTRACT In the wake of the platform economy’s transformative influence on translation work, this study aims to address a critical concern: the alignment of translation workers’ labour conditions with the principles of decent work. Through a quantitative analysis of a subset of questionnaire data collected from translators in Turkey engaging with various digital labour platforms, the findings suggest substantial disparities in meeting the six fundamental conditions of decent work, as defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO). These include insufficient earnings, excessive and asocial working hours, difficulties in achieving work-life balance, absence of a safe and healthy work environment, limited social security access, and a deficiency in social dialogue, representation, and workplace democracy. The identified issues align with the findings of prior studies, which warn that the techno-political developments in the translation industry, coupled with the dominance of capitalist business structures, may introduce new challenges and constraints to translation work and its workers, ultimately leading to exploitative and unsustainable working conditions.

Methodology for Determining the Correct Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity in Concrete

Quite often, concrete strength parameters must be determined in the shortest possible time. Due to the strong correlation between concrete’s mechanical and acoustic properties, ultrasonic devices can be used for this purpose. However, the ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) is influenced by a variety of factors, including the curing and exploitation conditions of the concrete, the presence of reinforcement, and other various physical factors. Ignoring these factors may contribute to the misinterpretation of the measurement data when determining the strength of the concrete. Typically, all these factors are analyzed independently. This publication consolidates the findings obtained from our research efforts and field expertise over the past two decades. It outlines the elaborated UPV measurement methodology based on the integration of a four-argument function: the hydration process phase of the hardened cement paste (or concrete aged three days and older), hardening (curing) condition, concrete moisture level, and ambient temperature. To understand the interactions of the key factors, different ultrasonic devices were used to measure the velocities of longitudinal and surface waves in concrete by applying direct and indirect transmission methods when concrete specimens were tested under different moisture and temperature conditions.

Mix Design of Acid Resistant Alkali Activated Materials for Reconstruction of the Building Constructions Damaged by the War

The paper covers the results of development of alkali activated materials stable in the acid environment. Such materials can be used as main materials for reconstruction of the residential and industrial buildings, influenced by the acid pollution or exploitation conditions. It was shown possibility to obtain alkali activated cement able to be use in normal hardening conditions, meeting the requirements for normal cements (compressive strength up to 60 MPa, initial setting time over 45 minutes, coefficient of acid resistance over 0.8). Such results provide possibilities to develop acid resistant repairing mixes for reconstruction and various applications.

State and exploitation of commercial fish stocks in the Russian part of the Baltic Sea, Curonian, Kaliningrad and Finnish Gulfs

The aim of this article: to assess the condition and level of exploitation of commercial fish species in the Russian parts of the Baltic Sea (including the Gulf of Finland), the Curonian and Kaliningrad (Vistula) Lagoons.Methods used: the stocks of commercial fish species in the Baltic Sea and its bays are transboundary. For several decades, as part of the international regulation of fisheries in the Baltic Sea, scientific cooperation has been carried out between the countries of the European Union and the Russian Federation at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). During the period from 1992 to the present, AtlantNIRO has organized and carried out a significant amount of comprehensive research work in the Baltic Sea. In total, more than 70 hydroacoustic, bottom and environmental surveys were completed. Long-term (more than 60 years) studies of aquatic biological resources of commercial fish species are also carried out in the Curonian and Kaliningrad (Vistula) Lagoons. For many years, scientific cooperation has been carried out on the study of the bays with the Lithuanian and Polish republics, respectively.Novelty: in the modern period, analysis of research on the state and exploitation of stocks of commercial fish species in the Russian part of the Baltic is carried out for the first time.Result: the volume of production of aquatic biological resources (ABR) in the Baltic Sea has currently reached an “extreme high point”, and a slight decrease should be expected in the near future. In the Curonian and Kaliningrad (Vistula) Lagoons, the condition of the stocks of the main commercial fish is satisfactory, which allows for stable production of aquatic fish.Practical significance: in modern conditions, information on the state of fish stocks in the region will allow solving problems of managing these resources, including planning for the near future the possible volumes of their production by fishing organizations.

Modern sediment characteristics of Cua Dat hydroelectric reservoir based on high-resolution seismic data

The high-resolution seismic survey work was conducted in the reservoir area of the Cua Dat hydroelectric using the Sub-bottom Profiler EdgeTech 3400 equipment combination, covering a survey route of over 40 km. The collected data revealed the reservoir area's fundamental terrain and modern sediment characteristics. These findings provided insights into the dynamics of the sedimentary environment on the reservoir surface, indicating that the reservoir's current operational and exploitation conditions can ensure longevity and safety according to the design of the Cua Dat hydroelectric project.

Bringing to light the shackles of the past: reflections on labor under conditions analogous to slavery in the context of SDG 8

The effective implementation of the SDGs requires coordinated action among governments, the private sector, civil society, and other stakeholders, along with comprehensive mobilization of financial, technological, and human resources. It is crucial to integrate economic, social, and environmental aspects to achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. This qualitative article, utilizing literature review and document analysis, examines challenges and progress related to SDG 8 fulfillment in the Brazilian context, identifying factors impacting the effective eradication of slave-like labor and proposing potential strategies to achieve these goals. The targets of SDG 8 (Promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all) have regressed in Brazil and worldwide. Forced labor, exploitation, and precarious working conditions persist, necessitating the implementation of stricter laws, strengthening of monitoring mechanisms, and a unified commitment from all involved actors for the effective eradication of this abhorrent practice.

Subsidising Extraction: Care at Work in Zambia's Copper Mines

AbstractThis article explores the ambivalence of care and its role in sustaining capitalist extraction in Zambia's copper mines. Based on ethnographic research within mines and their encompassing communities, the article documents the caring practices of mineworkers and attempts of trade unionists and managerial staff to counsel and support mineworkers as they navigate exploitative employment conditions. These acts of care are often unacknowledged or trivialised by corporate discourses and top company management. Yet, they are pivotal in maintaining and repairing fragile labour relations and, thereby, production. The article explores the way acts of care support workers but, at the same time, reassert the power of the company and the inevitability of exploitation. Following the deconstruction of paternalist welfare systems in the mining sector, neoliberal investments are buttressed by these caring practices and the wider set of relationships they mobilise within the labour force and the broader community. These acts of care thus subsidise the extraction of Zambia's mineral resources.

Plantations Beyond Monocrops: Cannabis Ecologies From Colonial Angola to São Tomé

São Tomé, a small island in the Gulf of Guinea and a former Portuguese colony, is an exemplary place to analyze the development of plantation “cropscapes.” These cropscapes emerged around sugar in the sixteenth century, evolved with coffee in the 1850s and consolidated with cocoa from the 1880s onwards. While is impossible to ignore the monocultural nature of São Tomé plantations and the centrality of specific plants for these plantation ecologies, there were other human/plant assemblages, that sustained, subverted or ran parallel to plantation goals of production, profit and power. This article zooms into cannabis to explore different relations between plantation working peoples and plantation environments, between suffering, healing, and violence, between labor, pleasure, and power. It will examine how cannabis was part and parcel of the lives of peoples from Angola recruited to São Tomé and, consequently, of the island's plantation worlds in the late nineteenth century. It will also discuss how colonial discourses on cannabis obscured and silenced the presence of this plant in contemporary plantation histories, regardless of its traces in the archive. Cannabis histories are in fact important ones: they counter imperial master narratives by showing how, even under conditions of exploitation, laboring communities and plants co-produced spaces of autonomy, care and leisure.

Fascist Legacies of Mobilization and Co-Optation: Evidence from Democratic Portugal

Many authoritarian regimes seek to blunt everyday acts of resistance and social mobilization through co-optation rather than adopting riskier tools like outright repression. What are the political imprints of authoritarian-era co-optation after a transition to democracy? We examine this question in Portugal, where rural corporatist institutions known as Casas do Povo sought to co-opt peasants and dismantle worker mobilization in the fascist era. We find conditional effects for the consequences of rural co-optation in Portugal’s restive southern region, where Casas do Povo took on particular importance given ongoing social mobilization over exploitative labor conditions in the countryside. Absent robust co-optation, social mobilization in the fascist era translated into greater support for the left-wing Portuguese Communist Party after democratization and less support for the right. But the electoral legacies of social mobilization are absent where the fascist regime created early Casas do Povo, facilitating co-optation.

PV generation of hydrogen for operational rawinsonde usage: design and economic analysis

Operational meteorological rawinsonde balloons are usually filled by using Helium gas, provided by an external company. Alternatively, renewable energies may be used to generate Hydrogen for operational meteorological balloons usage. In this work, a Hydrogen plant to produce gas by electrolysis, with electricity generated by PV cells, is proposed and designed, to be used in an operational rawinsonde. Taking into account both technical and legal conditions for solar energy exploitation in Spain, two technical configurations were considered and designed: (a) autonomous system, that is, electric power produced by the PV cells is used to feed the whole process of Hydrogen production; and, (b) connected system, that is, electric power produced by the PV cells is supplied to the Spanish Electric Network (REE) and, at the same time, Hydrogen is produced by electrolysis using energy provided by REE. Option (b) can be considered because of the economic benefits set by the Spanish Real Decreto 436/2004, as the energy is provided by REE at a lower price than the energy supplied by the PV cells. In order to compare both options and the feasibility of the project, an economic analysis is also presented, including: investment evaluation, incomes and expenses analysis. Different sold and consumed power supply prices are considered as well as financial costs, and Helium gas savings. In addition, a feasibility study based on the general criteria of operation and installation, such as payback period, net actual value (NAV) and internal rate of return (ROI) is also presented.

The development of glutin-based biocomposite materials with advanced hydrophobicity

Biocomposite materials, which contain components of natural origin, have low resistance to water absorbtion due to high lyophilicity of components. It leads to quick destruction of biocomposite products under the conditions of high humidity exploitation that defines the necessity and importance of conducting scientific research in this sphere. The aim of the article is to research the hydrophobic additives influence on the compressive strength and hygroscopicity of biocomposite materials consisting of glutin matrix (100 parts by weight) and wood flour (100 parts by weight). The technology of forming biocomposite materials includes a step-by-step pressing the composition at a pressure of 10-15 MPa and a heat treatment of the product in a press mold at a temperature of 140°C. Experimental methods of investigating the biocomposite materials compressive strength and hygroscopicity were used in the work. It was experimentally determined that the modifying additive (paraffin) optimal content is 4 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of biopolymer matrix. At this content, there is an increase compressive strength by 2.8-4.6 times of the biocomposite materials compared to biocomposites with different paraffin content. As a result of the state analysis of biocomposite samples which were destroyed under the static loading influence, the features of the cracks occurrence and propagation in biocomposites depending on different modifying additive content, the conduct of the composition preliminary processing or biocomposites additional processing in a thermal field were determined. The use of protective hydrophobic coatings on the biocomposite samples surface provided an increase in the biocomposites resistance to the moisture negative influence. The most effective were coatings based on a paraffin solution, which provided a reduction in water absorption by 45-50% compared to biocomposites coated with wax, drying oil Oksol, and sunflower oil. The complex use of hydrophobic substances as modifying additives and protective coatings has practical significance, as they positively affect the processes of forming the structure, increasing the strength and hydrophobicity of biocomposite materials used in a humid environment

Stolen Childhoods: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mental Wellbeing among Adult Survivors of Child Labor

Child labor is a global issue that robs children off their childhood and exposes them to harmful and exploitative conditions. This qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study aims to explore the difficult childhood experiences of 17 adults subjected to child labor at very young ages of 6 and 7 years and the long-term effects their exposure had on their mental health. Through in-depth interviews, this study sheds light on the nature of the experiences of child labor; provides a deeper understanding of the challenges they faced. The study found that adult survivors of child labor experienced adverse childhoods in areas of poor relationship with parents and caregivers; toxic family/living environments; peer violence; and witnessing community violence. We conclude that adults who had experienced child labor often endured losses, separation, maltreatment, neglect and starvation during their formative years; that adult survivors of child labor exhibit symptoms of hyperarousal and grapple with intrusive memories related to their past traumas which impact their relationships and overall well-being. That these challenges pose significant mental health issues such as low self-esteem, vulnerabilities, psychological distress, among others. We court the attention of helping professionals to assist clients from trauma-informed perspectives to unearth deep-seated traumatic challenges of people who seek help.