Is it possible to end economic exploitation?  Here I will argue that the answer to this question is yes – at least in terms of how we typically understand these concepts today. After all, it maybe that on addressing present forms of economic exploitation, as yet undetected or new forms may become apparent to us. Such an outcome is not an impossibility and some might argue that it is highly likely. But this is largely irrelevant, as we can only work within the limitations of our current understandings.

With this in mind I would like to propose the following. In order to answer the above posed question we need to:

– Understand what is meant by economic exploitation

– Identify the root causes of economic exploitation

– Conceptualise alternative forms of economic organisation.

Here, in answer to the above three points, I will argue; (a) that economic exploitation manifests within two different kinds of relationships, (b) that the origin of these two exploitative relationships can be traced back to the same set of institutions, and (c) that there already exists conceptual alternatives to these exploitative institutions that can be used to inform strategy to end economic exploitation.

Understanding what is meant by economic exploitation

All human societies are made up of four social systems, each performing a specific set of functions that address fundamental human needs and wants. One of these is the economic system, which has the following three primary functions; (1) production of goods and services, (2) allocation of goods and services, and (3) consumption of goods and services. Examples of goods and services include things like food, education, healthcare, communication, transportation, etc.

We now have a basic understanding of what economics is all about. From this basic understanding we also know that when we are talking about economic exploitation we are referring to unfair treatment, abuse or oppression with regards to the production, allocation and consumption of goods and services. We are talking about inflicting harm or damage to the subjects involved in these primary economic functions. But who or what are these subjects?

The production, allocation and consumption of goods and services relies upon two kinds of relationships. The first is what I will refer to as people-to-people relationships. The second is what I will call people-to-planet relationships. Both of these kinds of relationships are pretty much self-explanatory so I will not bore you by elaborating on them here. What I will say however, is that the people-to-people and people-to-planet relationships represent the subjects referred to above, and it is within these relationships that exploitation can take place. More precisely, within the people-to-people relationships we are talking about class exploitation, whereas within the people-to-planet relationships we are talking about the exploitation of natural resources.

Identifying the root causes of economic exploitation

We now have some idea of what is meant by economic exploitation (i.e. class exploitation and the exploitation of natural resources) and where we might find it (i.e. in people-to-people and people-to-planet relationships). That is a good start! However, if we want to end economic exploitation then we need to identify its root causes. To do this we need to do some analysis of the current economic system – which is usually referred to as capitalism.

Capitalism is one form of economic organization and it is currently the dominant model. Capitalism is distinct from other forms of economic organization due to its component parts – or what I will refer to here as institutional features. What is very important to understand is that it is these institutional features that mediate the two kinds of relationships highlighted above. It therefore follows that if we want to identify the root causes of economic exploitation it is within these institutional features that we will find what we are looking for.

As an economic model, capitalism is made up of four institutional features which complement and reinforce each other.  They are:

– Private ownership of the means of production

– Corporate division of labour

– Remuneration for ownership and bargaining power

– Competitive markets.

Our task now involves looking into each of these defining features in order to locate our two forms of economic exploitation. To help us do this we can ask the following two questions:

– Which of these institutional features generates class exploitation?

– Which of these institutional features generates the exploitation of natural resources?

Obviously, each of us has to work through these questions ourselves and, ideally with others who are also interested in ending economic exploitation. For me however, the answers to these two questions is: all four of the above. It seems to me that; private ownership of the means of production, the corporate division of labour, remuneration for ownership and bargaining power, and competitive markets all generate people-to-people relationships based on class exploitation. Likewise, it seems to me that; private ownership of the means of production, the corporate division of labour, remuneration for ownership and bargaining power, and competitive markets all generate people-to-planet relationships based on the exploitation of natural resources.

Conceptualise alternative forms of economic organisation

Following the above analysis we can see that every defining feature of capitalism is inherently exploitative. From this we can conclude that reforming capitalism will never result in the ending of economic exploitation. We can also conclude that if we want to end economic exploitation we must replace all four of the defining features of capitalism with alternative institutional features for production, allocation and consumption. Furthermore, these alternative institutional features will need to be designed in such a way that generates respectful people-to-people and people-to-planet relationships. In short, if we really want to end economic exploitation, we need a new economic system that is both classless and sustainable.

To finish I will present four alternative institutional features to those that go to make up the capitalist system. I claim that together these four institutional features would generate respectful people-to-people and people-to-planet relationships and insodoing represent a new form of economic organization. I also claim that – if implemented – these alternatives would result in a classless and sustainable (i.e. exploitation free) economic system.  The four institutional features are:

– Self-managed worker and consumer councils (as an alternative to the private ownership of the means of production)

– Balanced job complexes (as an alternative to the corporate division of labour)

– Remuneration for effort / sacrifice (as an alternative to remuneration for ownership and bargaining power)

– Participatory planning (as an alternative to competitive markets).

Together these institutional features constitute an economic model called participatory economics (or parecon for short). To learn more about the model and how it proposes to end economic exploitation simply follow the above link.

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