Unfree labour

Unfree labour is a generic or collective term for those work relations, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence (including death), compulsion, or other forms of extreme hardship to themselves or members of their families.

Unfree labour includes all forms of slavery, and related institutions (e.g. debt slavery, serfdom, corvée and indentured labour). Many of these forms of work may be covered by the term forced labour, which is defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as all involuntary work or service exacted under the menace of a penalty.

History

Unfree labour has existed throughout history, but its forms have varied. In some cases, the labourer is de facto serfdom, in others, he is legally tied to a specific employer, as in indentured labour, or tied by a negative form of freedom of contract. The latter is most commonly described today as wage slavery, although it is not a form of slavery as first defined. The penal labour and military conscription are forms of unfree labour that have been widespread.

Modern forms

Modern forms of unfree labour can be categorized as prison labour and workfare. Prison labour is a form of unfree labour which prisoners, who are convicted of crimes, are required to perform. Workfare, on the other hand, is a form of unfree labour that requires individuals to work in return for benefits.

See also

• Slavery
• Serfdom
• Indentured servitude
• Forced labour
• Human trafficking
• Child labour
• Debt bondage
• Peonage