Labor System Research Articles

From South Africa to the World: The Political and Legal Legacies of Chinese Indenture in the Transvaal

ABSTRACT This article examines the term ‘new slavery’, short for ‘a new form of slavery’, as used by Liberal British Parliament members and white South African trade unionists in opposition to the recruitment of Chinese indentured labourers to work in the Transvaal gold mines. The recruitment of Chinese indentured labourers emerged following the South Africa War (1899-1902) in response to African ‘native’ labourers’ refusal to return to the mines. This article explores how the Transvaal’s distinct indentured labour system, characterized by coercive features akin to those in the Indian indentured labour system, and further defined by mandatory repatriation, fines for assisting labourers in contract violation and the establishment of a Chinese consulate for fair treatment, set a precedent for global labour programmes. These specific conditions of the Transvaal system influenced the development of subsequent labour initiatives, particularly the Chinese Labour Corps during World War I. The article provides an overview of the overlaps between these programmes and highlights the enduring impact of the Transvaal system on the evolution of global labour practices including modern guest worker programmes.

Legal framework and procedures of occupational health. A hermeneutic analysis

Establishing safety standards for regulating workers' health is one of the main components of a labor system. In order to optimize productive activities in a way that aligns with the well-being, rights, and duties of the worker, it is crucial to properly operationalize the legal framework, the procedures for its execution, and the establishment of clear responsibilities and guarantees. The study was aimed at a qualitative and hermeneutic review of the relevant literature, both nationally and internationally, in the Scielo, Redalyc, Dialnet, and Scopus databases. The study allowed for the mapping of the literature, a critical assessment of the texts, and the representation of the main categories according to the initially established themes. The results indicate that it is necessary to implement a safety plan in light of current regulations. In addition, this legal device must operate in conjunction with other cooperatives, the union with the academic sector, and the support of state health entities, thus establishing cooperative work that benefits all sectors in the spinoff style.

BIRTH OF THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT IN INDEPENDENT PAKISTAN

How did the women's movement emerge in Pakistan and what factors created it? Was the women's movement born only from women's organizations? Do only urban women's organizations lead the entire country? Are class differences relevant here? Are knowledge creation and individual and collective consciousness the result of geographical and professional background? We can get answers to these questions only by analyzing theories. The path on which the women's movement in South Asia is moving is the path of integrating gender with development. Women's organizations in South Asian countries are fighting against the elements inimical to women's identity and are strongly opposing the politicization of religion. South Asian women are still trying to restore peace. Along with this, their movement is moving forward with other important issues, such as gender equality which is demanding equality at the level of law, capacity building, participation and governance. The struggle of the South Asian women's movement is visible on every issue. Lack of political power among women, gender inequality, health related issues, need for justice, human rights issues, need for peaceful development etc. are important issues but the path of women's movement in all these is difficult. Lack of state initiatives, feudal and patriarchal social structure and globalization market system and demand for cheap labor are making the path of this struggle more difficult. Many feminists believe that in the context of South Asia, women's movement and feminist movement are two different concepts. While women's movement talks about equal rights in a democratic structure, feminism challenges the legitimacy of a system which is oppressive for women.

Удосконалення системи мотивації персоналу на прикладі АТ «УКРПОШТА»

Companies must constantly look for new ways to increase efficiency and improve management systems in today’s competitive environment. We all know that talent is an organization’s most important resource. The more investment and attention paid to talent, the better the overall efficiency and profitability of the enterprise. Motivation is one of the main components of people management. When exploring the nature of motivation, it is essential to consider that motivation is a process that drives a person’s behavior in a specific direction, forcing them to behave in a certain way in a particular situation. By understanding motivational methods that have yet to be sufficiently studied, we can better explain people’s behavior at work or in other situations. At the current stage of business and logistics industry development in Ukraine, Ukrposhta faces challenges and tasks related to increasing competitiveness and improving customer service. One of the crucial factors influencing the successful fulfillment of these tasks is the compelling motivation and management of personnel. The incentive system at Ukrposhta may need to be revised or improved to ensure high productivity and employee satisfaction. Motivation processes need to be more transparent, non-individualized, and able to consider the needs of different groups of employees, such as couriers, sorters, managers, etc. This situation can lead to low productivity, decreased motivation, increased staff turnover, and deterioration in the quality of customer service. The purpose of the article is to study the peculiarities and importance of forming an effective labor motivation system at an enterprise, as well as to analyze the current state of the motivation system at Ukrposhta JSC and to find ways to improve it. Improving the staff motivation system is crucial to any organization’s successful management and development. Companies can achieve many benefits with a properly designed and implemented motivation system. Motivated staff work more efficiently and achieve high results, contributing to the company’s productivity. Suppose employees feel valued and have development opportunities. In that case, it reduces the risk of losing valuable staff and the need to find new employees. Satisfied employees are more focused on the quality of their work and customer service, which helps to attract and retain customers. An effective incentive system can foster creative and innovative solutions among employees. A well-designed incentive system can improve the working climate, make the work environment more conducive, and promote teamwork. A robust incentive system can be a tool for attracting and retaining talented employees. Thus, at Ukrposhta, remuneration is the main economic incentive. The company uses various forms and systems of labor. Management pays attention to material incentives but ignores stimulating the moral needs of subordinates, such as improving work performance and conditions, maintaining team spirit, etc. Keywords: motivation, motivation system, staff motivation, improvement of motivation, ways of motivation.

Characteristics of the labor market in Croatia and contemporary external migration

The paper analyzes the characteristics of the labor market in Croatia, the changes in the demographic potential of the working-age population, and the structural determinants of the labor system. The movement of the number of able-bodied, active and inactive population from 2013 until today, points to a trend of decreasing the able-bodied contingent, economic activity and unemployment of the population, and an increase in employment. The analysis showed that the structural problems on the labor market in Croatia are an insufficiency of educational staff, structural unemployment, youth unemployment, and the mismatch between the supply and demand of jobs. Such characteristics of the work system influenced the movement of the determinants of external migration in Croatia, especially after 2013. Simultaneously with the strengthening of emigration, the number of immigrated persons also increases, so that from 2013 to 2022, their number amounted to about 195 thousand of mostly foreign citizens. We can establish that we are talking about free economic migrations and an increased inflow of labor, mostly unskilled workers, which makes up for the lack of domicile workforce.Structural-selective unemployment in Croatia can be analyzed on a general level according to age groups and according to education, and on a specific level, through indicators of the skills mismatch on the labor market. The total unemployment rate in Croatia has experienced a significant decline since 2013, and current unemployment is the lowest in the youngest working age, and the highest in the age over 40. Compared to 2013, the share of unemployed persons with primary and lower secondary education in Croatia is continuously decreasing, the share of unemployed persons with upper secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education levels is slightly falling (with frequent oscillations), while the share of unemployed persons with tertiary education is increasing. Problems on the labor market in Croatia have been noticeable after the global economic crisis of 2008 and its high unemployment, and in the last ten years also in the areas with a low level of economic activity of the population and a lack of domestic labor for the functionality of certain sectors of activity.On the other hand, the structure of the emigrant contingent, in which the young and able-bodied population predominates, points to the outflow of labor force of medium and high qualification levels. The review of research on recent emigration confirms the complex conditionality of leaving Croatia, and among the main factors a group of economic ones arising from the macroeconomic situation and structural deficiencies in the labor market stands out. In addition to economic factors, other types of factors are strengthening, which is why the continuation of the emigration of the Croatian population and the immigration of the foreign population are likely to be expected. The isolated and presented indicators and trends point to the complexity of the relationship between economic and labor factors, contemporary migration patterns and demographic characteristics of the resident population, in accordance with previous theoretical and empirical knowledge.

Overseers of the Poor: Relief, Surveillance, and Control in the Early Republic Northeast

Abstract: Early Republic communities were represented by officers of the poor law operated almshouses, distributed relief, and collaborated with other local authorities to implement the state poor laws. The scale of poverty experienced in the early American republic, when the rates of destitution and level of need for high welfare budgets were a constant preoccupation of lawmakers and philanthropists, points to the importance of this singular figure of the overseer. Working within a highly mobile population adjusting to the nascent system of wage labor in this period, overseers tracked people experiencing poverty across community lines. Overseers of the Poor acted as agents of the state writ large, operating at local and municipal levels to implement the logics of state laws relating to citizenship and poverty.

Application of TDABC in assessing the profitability of examinations and the level of idleness of computed tomography in the gynecological oncology sector

Gynecological malignancies represent one of the main mortality factors in women, with imaging exams being important tools for diagnosis, staging and surgical planning. Such exams are carried out at Diagnostic Imaging Centers (CDI) which, due to the use of sophisticated technology and qualified labor, are expensive and impact health systems. Given this context, this research aims to demonstrate how TDABC can be used to evaluate the profitability of exams and the levels of idleness that exist in the context of the computed tomography sector of the gynecological oncology unit. For this purpose, a methodology classifiable as qualitative and descriptive was used and the case study format was adopted, with data collection through documentary research, informal interviews to learn about the process and estimates of the execution time of the activities. The results showed that the tests carried out are deficient, as the cost of providing these services is higher than the prices paid by the Unified Health System (SUS), which resulted in a total loss of R$ -79,347.04 in the month. The levels of idleness of the activities involved were also determined, both in terms of inactive minutes and in monetary values. Therefore, it was concluded that the total idleness of the tomography sector surveyed reached R$ 102,932.81 and is equivalent to 41.62% on average for the activities covered (varying between 3.66% in the case of equipment and 81.59% in relation to nurses’ activity). Regarding the contributions made, it is worth noting that the information made available by TDABC can support actions aimed at reducing time between activities and optimizing the performance of the employees involved, in addition to demonstrating TDABC's adherence within the scope of entities that perform diagnostic imaging services. From the results obtained, it is concluded that it is essential to optimize processes to reduce exam time and increase productivity, as well as the need to readjust the values in the SUS table to avoid compromising investment of resources in other sectors of the hospital.

“The primacy of labor over profits”: Thomas Mahony, the Beet Field Workers of Colorado, and Visions for a Consumerist Democracy, 1902–1957

Abstract During the first half of the twentieth century, ethnic Mexican beet workers in Colorado endured a daunting array of challenges that included dismal housing, meager wages, and a family labor system that forced children as well as adults to labor relentless hours in the sugar-beet fields. In response to these conditions, Catholic reformer Thomas Mahony promoted a vision of the American economy in which marginalized populations like the beet laborers would take their rightful place as healthy consumers and effective family providers. His vision was shaped by the Catholic social justice movement of the Progressive Era, as well as by a career in agricultural consumerism. From 1910 to 1913, for example, he served as director of exhibits for the Chicago Land Show, a position that immersed him in a world that marketed farm lands as idealized consumer commodities while rendering invisible the struggles of propertyless farm workers. When Mahony began his reform career a decade later, he strove to do exactly the opposite: make beet field workers as visible as possible in his blueprint for a vigorous consumerist democracy. At the same time, however, Mahony’s intense fears of radicalism overshadowed his reform impulses, reflecting profound tensions within the Catholic reform ethos that shaped him: a yearning for spiritual and social regeneration in constant battle with a dread of social upheaval. Mahony’s story therefore helps to illuminate the considerable potential of twentieth-century religious reform, even as his obsessive fears highlight the perils of antiradicalism in the U.S. West.

Capitalist, Evolution, Financial Innovations and Financial Literacy: A Study of their Dynamics in Shaping Modern Capitalism

Finance has had its root in human history since human being started a settled civilized life. As production for trade took a shape, various means of transactions and storage of value kept on evolving. Gradually, finance took the center stage with the evolution of modern capitalism. In early stages the financial instruments remained a scattered individual means of financial practice, no central regulation existed in the early era. Hence the acquaintance with these instruments was also confined to individual users, the traders, particularly. Since economic productivity was quite low, ordinary individuals had little surplus to save, not many had much to do with financial literacy. The modern capitalism required industrial workers, surplus of agricultural products, more consumers for market, more means of production to produce trade surplus and more financial savings and instruments to channelize investments. Also the producers were required to be alienated from the product of labour so that the trade of commodities could be taken in control by the trading class. Also the means of production, which was otherwise the ownership of the households, was to be turned marketable to facilitate the transfer the ownership from ordinary owners to the trading class. The trinity of commodity production, wage labour and market system altogether had to evolve for capitalism to come into existence. Accordingly, various financial instruments took shape, the traditional ones became more formalized and many new ones were invented. The evolution of different forms of business, the 'company' form particularly, helped this process in a big way. Simultaneously, the financial anarchy put the systems in turmoil and hence regulatory bodies became a compulsion. These regulatory bodies assumed the twin role of regulation of financial markets, financial facilitation, as well as creating financial literacy among ordinary people to link their savings to the mainstream trade and commerce lines. The paper attempts to portray the evolution of modern financial system and find out how this evolution has been linked to the financial literacy of the common masses. Also the paper would throw lights on imminent market and systemic hazards caused by excess leliance on financialisation of economic system.

Environment, Slavery and Agency in Colonial Uruguay, 1750–1810

Abstract In colonial Uruguay black slaves could supervise the work of white creoles and even hold the power to have their wages docked. To most historians this might seem puzzling and almost fictional in the context of the colonial Americas. This article makes sense of the puzzle by examining interactions between the economy and the environment on the Río de la Plata frontier. It argues that the natural world (soils, topography, climate, crops and animals) contributes to explain why this labour system existed, and also why it was efficient, contrary to the historiographical commonplace that enslaved workers would be unable to oversee free labourers effectively. Looking at the experience of both women and men through the lens of gender uncovers the parallels between the authority of these enslaved foremen over free male workers on the open range and their domestic authority over free women, whom they could marry. Their stories invite historians of other places and periods to foreground the environment in the set of structures that can either limit workers’ autonomy or give them strength.

From Docent to Professional to Activist to Critical Race Theorist: A Biomythography of a Black American Museum Professional

ABSTRACT The wisdom of Audre Lorde informs us that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” The origins of many museum collections are that their objects were obtained by colonizers who became the masters of colonized people’s cultural heritage. One of the master’s tools has always been to create and benefit from a system of free labor. Within the museum, the vestiges of the master’s tool of free labor remain, although with different shapes and aims. The system of free labor in the museum is tangential with the presence of the docent corps. This article explores the sensationalism of battles over the fate of docent groups in light of the need to make fundamental shifts in museum praxis.

Japan’s Forgotten Korean Forced Laborers: The Search for Hidden Wartime Graves in Hokkaido

Abstract The return of remains of Korean forced laborers who died in Japan between 1940 and 1945 has been a major controversy for over half a century for Koreans. These deaths reveal the tragic consequences of Japan’s World War II forced labor system. Japan forcefully mobilized nearly 800,000 Koreans who were taken to at least 1,589 worksites in Japan and 381 worksites in Hokkaido. Over 10 percent of all Koreans forcefully mobilized throughout the empire are estimated to have died or disappeared, but the precise number of Korean forced laborers’ deaths inside Japan remains unknown. Until 1989, remains recovered from graves throughout Japan by local people were immediately cremated by Japanese Buddhist priests, making cause of death and precise identities forensically impossible. This account relates the first and only comprehensive effort to exhume Korean forced labor graves without immediate cremation, coordinated by Korean and Japanese activists and academics based in Hokkaido. This effort helped revive a neglected aspect of Korean forced labor history while focusing on the concerns of bereaved Koreans seeking the remains of their lost family members. Nevertheless, the project had serious limitations due to working in a difficult political environment and neglect of forensic science protocols in mass grave excavations and identification. This complex situation prevented identification of victims’ names and cause of death that could have held the Japanese government and companies involved accountable.

The Origins and Early Development of Statute Labor in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, 1796-1861

ABSTRACT This research note examines the early development of the statute labor system in Quebec. The focus is on the Eastern Townships region where—for cultural as well as geographic reasons—the road building and maintenance system was more community-based than in the rest of the province. That region welcomed the introduction of municipal governance and the property assessment system in the 1840s, but rural ratepayers remained determined to pay their road taxes with their own labor. As a result, despite the inefficiencies of the labor tax and the criticisms of road improvers, provincial legislation recognized it as a permissible option, thereby allowing it to survive until after the turn of the 20th century.

A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES TO ERADICATE BONDED LABOR IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH, INDIA

This paper investigates the historical underpinnings of bonded labor in India, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, with a strong focus on government initiatives to combat this issue. It discusses the legislative framework, particularly the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act of 1976, and the subsequent efforts of the government in surveying and liberating bonded laborers in Arunachal Pradesh. The highlights the recommendations of the High-Power Committee on Bonded Labor and emphasizes the role of government actions in empowering marginalized communities, such as the Puroik community.

기후위기와 양질의 노동

Bruno Latour emphasizes, “We can no longer liberate ourselves as we could in the past. We are facing a completely new situation.” This statement underscores the climate crisis as a manifestation of the entanglement between nature and culture, compelling humanity to reassess previously viable approaches. These include, at a theoretical level, the dualism between nature and culture, anthropocentrism, and growth ideology, and, on a more practical scale, individual labor and consumption patterns. The evolving macro and micro dynamics highlight the contradictions within capitalist labor systems, challenges the labor law has sought to address. Beyond this, it prompts a reevaluation of the labor subject's mode of existence and the working conditions required in the Anthropocene era. The central question of this research is whether our lives, labor, and theories can adapt to this “new situation” and articulate a concept of “liberation” relevant to our current moment. In seeking answers to this question, the study first explores the conceptualization of labor as envisioned by the labor laws of the Anthropocene, alongside the capabilities that enable such existence. Specifically, it goes beyond the alienation issues highlighted by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing to propose a framework for the existence, relationships, and behaviors of working subjects. This framework emphasizes the integration of our physical selves with our attention, intentions, and actions into the Earth's system, where human and non-human actors intertwine. The study suggests these elements are crucial for participating in the co-evolution of nature and culture, covering all aspects of daily life and labor. For this mode of existence, it highlights the importance of capabilities in existence, relationships, and behaviors as focal points for the labor laws of the Anthropocene. Furthermore, the study advocates for the reduction of working hours and the establishment of a fair wage system as essential conditions to facilitate the capabilities and modes of existence targeted by the Anthropocene's labor laws. It argues that working hours and wages are not merely basic labor conditions but also significantly influence the broader spectrum of existence, including survival. The study posits that decreasing working hours and ensuring adequate wages might not directly affect the well-being of non-human nature. However, the resultant time and financial flexibility could greatly enhance individuals' capacity for existence, relationships, and behaviors, and thereby, reconstruct their relationship with non-human nature. As practical measures to reduce working hours, the study proposes shortening statutory working hours, compensating for overtime work with time rather than money, and expanding the annual paid leave system. Additionally, this study reviews Article 32 (1) of the Constitution, which mandates fair wage guarantees, and suggests the formation of industry-specific tripartite consultative bodies involving labor, management, and government as a mechanism to implement a fair wage system.

Capital’s Preference for Foreign African Labour in South Africa: Reflections on Liberal Anti-xenophobia Research

In South Africa, in many economic sectors, foreign blacks are more likely to get a job than a similarly skilled black South African. This paper is about why employers prefer foreign African labour in South Africa, how this contributes to seeing South African black workers as inferior and how job hoarding networks in employment niches have emerged. We examine this in the context of literature on ‘xenophobia’. Both discursive and material practices of racist-ethnicist employers are significant. In a new hierarchy of fictive labour imaginaries which reflects a new labour ‘frontier’ in a diversified post-apartheid southern African pool. The new frontier reflects neoliberal flexible labour systems which also operate within a human rights free-market framework.

Robert Louis Stevenson and German Sāmoa

ABSTRACT This study revisits the writings of Robert Louis Stevenson on German Sāmoa as a valuable archive for understanding the impact of Western colonialism on the Pacific. It examines Stevenson’s anti-colonial perspectives in writings such as A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa (1892), his series of letters to The Times in London (1889–1894), and his private correspondence. Stevenson’s analysis of the impact of the Germans’ militarism and meddlesome officialdom, together with their extensive plantation system and use of unfree labour, also provides an important context for reading contemporary Oceanian writers and artists. The varied creative practices of recovery and remediation deployed by Albert Wendt, Sia Figiel, Yuki Kihara, Michel Tuffery and Tony Brunt, are often inspired by cultural memories of German Sāmoa.

Cocoa at Work: Materials and Labor in the Making of Global Chocolate

Abstract This article examines two distant workspaces of cocoa: plantations in São Tomé, a small Portuguese colonial island in the African Gulf of Guinea, and a British chocolate factory. In line with commodity-centered histories, it focuses on the diversity of labor systems, with different levels of coercion, working simultaneously to make cocoa and chocolate available to consumers in the industrial cities of Europe and North America. But this article adds to that literature by embracing the challenge of thinking with materials and the ways they produced specific social worlds. Cocoa and chocolate are understood as “thick things” whose physical attributes allowed or restricted different operations and uses and whose characteristics promoted or obstructed particular labor forms and allowed for the stabilization of different modes of rule. When we take the material properties of cocoa seriously, it is possible to see how mass chocolate production was a technological and scientific enterprise conceived to cope with the constraints of cocoa itself, with profound consequences for the labor forms on the plantation and the factory. Materials bound plantation laborers and chocolate scientists to specific technological, economic and political relations and demanded huge investments and much labor to create alternative ones.

Winter housing systems and costs of sheep production in Norway

Housing and indoor feeding of sheep is required throughout the cold season, which can last more than half a year, in Nordic highlands and Alpine regions. This study aimed to examine and evaluate the housing costs, including labour requirements, according to type of sheep housing system and degree of mechanized feeding by investigating systems commonly used in Nordic and Alpine regions. Detailed cost data were obtained from 61 surveyed sheep farmers in Norway with sheep houses built between the years 2008 and 2015. Costs were calculated for a baseline scenario (2021-prices) as well as for five scenarios at low and high discount rates and opportunity cost of labour, and high energy prices. The median (interquartile range) flock size was 150 (100) winter-fed sheep. Houses with slatted floors were more expensive than deep-litter systems. Costs of bedding material and feed waste were however higher, and the net value of the manure were lower in houses with deep-litter systems. At the baseline assumptions, overall net housing costs per sheep was not statistically different among the main housing types studied. Multiple regression analyses showed that net housing costs per sheep were lower in larger flocks and for centrally located farms (control variables). Undertaking daily chores, such as feeding of roughages twice a day rather than once, resulted in significantly higher net housing costs. Mechanized feeding of roughages, and even more so for concentrates, were not economically justified since labour savings were not sufficient to pay for the additional capital costs. A round bale chopper lowered net housing costs, significantly at a high labour cost. None of the scenarios found slatted floors to be significantly more expensive than deep-litter systems. High costs of labour and capital favoured deep-litter systems, while slatted floor systems were more advantageous at rising prices of energy that resulted in increased values of organic manures and costs of feed wastes and bedding materials. The study was based on a decade old data from common Norwegian sheep house variants. Farmers that consider constructing a new sheep house today, still must compare these variants as their main alternatives. We encourage other researchers to include effects of housing systems and mechanized feeding on animal performance, health, and welfare. Moreover, future studies should preferably also be undertaken in other environmental or socio-economic settings to produce more general results.

Kumari Culture: A Ritualistic and Dialectic Performance

Cultural values and traditions including rites and rituals are the peculiar identities of ethnic groups in Nepal. Newars of Kathmandu valley is one of the indigenous ethnic groups of Nepal with enough prosperity in their unique cultural performances. Every performance in Newari culture, from a typical folklore to native language to the celebration of national Newari festivals, has their own distinguishing features. Among the several aesthetic performances of Newari community is 'Kumari Culture'. In Kathmandu valley, 'Kumari Culture' regards to one of the sacred and idiosyncratic ritual performance where a young girl of age gap between 2-5 belonging to Newar Buddhist community is chosen as the divinity of goddess. The selected 'Kumari', regarded as a living goddess, is then worshipped by entire Nepali citizen. Kumari culture is believed to be originated from ancient Malla reign in the kingdom. Nonetheless, much controversy has arisen regarding Kumari culture in the recent times. Some critics call this culture as a system of child labour whereas, some advocate for the abolishment for its connection to the Royal history. Yet, Kumari culture is a holy form of Newa: Cultural performance that has its own inherent significance. Hence, this paper attempt to examine multi-dimensions of Kumari culture by assessing ritual performances of this culture. Finally, this paper affirms for the recognition of spiritual and dialectical performance of Kumari culture. I would be developing my argument within the fundamental theoretical insights of Richard Schechner and Victor Turner, incorporating the parameters of qualitative analysis.