Exploitation and Labour
Ferguson (2016)
“The misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being
exploited at all.”
An important tension in our thinking about these kinds of cases: on the one hand, because there
appears to be something wrong with these kinds of labour environments, it seems like they
should be abolished; on the other hand, it seems that doing so would be even worse for the very
people we are trying to help.
Exploitation
A potentially morally unacceptable working condition
Inappropriately compensation for their work
Work in unacceptable conditions
Unjust Wages
1. Distributive approach
Labourers are paid enough when they receive a certain proportion of the mutual
gains that are created by the combination of their labour and the firm’s capital
Equal division
Proportional to the individuals’ efforts or contributions
Any division is fair, provided the ways in which the parties bargain for their shares
do not violate certain procedural requirements
2. Absolute approach
A living wage
An amount compatible with human flourishing
Combined: ‘hybrid’
Prioritises an absolute level of pay and uses a distributive criterion only when the
absolute requirement cannot be satisfied
Prioritise distributive criteria by requiring to pay a certain proportion of the profits but
never less than a living wage
Unjust Conditions
1. Workplace hazards may be necessary features of the work itself
‘Necessary hazards’ cannot be completely removed
2. Workplace hazards may be caused by the firms and managers
‘Unnecessary’ hazards because they are not caused by the nature of the work
> Many of the real world risks to which labourers are exposed involve a combination of both
> The distinction is not always sharp
1
Ferguson (2016)
“The misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being
exploited at all.”
An important tension in our thinking about these kinds of cases: on the one hand, because there
appears to be something wrong with these kinds of labour environments, it seems like they
should be abolished; on the other hand, it seems that doing so would be even worse for the very
people we are trying to help.
Exploitation
A potentially morally unacceptable working condition
Inappropriately compensation for their work
Work in unacceptable conditions
Unjust Wages
1. Distributive approach
Labourers are paid enough when they receive a certain proportion of the mutual
gains that are created by the combination of their labour and the firm’s capital
Equal division
Proportional to the individuals’ efforts or contributions
Any division is fair, provided the ways in which the parties bargain for their shares
do not violate certain procedural requirements
2. Absolute approach
A living wage
An amount compatible with human flourishing
Combined: ‘hybrid’
Prioritises an absolute level of pay and uses a distributive criterion only when the
absolute requirement cannot be satisfied
Prioritise distributive criteria by requiring to pay a certain proportion of the profits but
never less than a living wage
Unjust Conditions
1. Workplace hazards may be necessary features of the work itself
‘Necessary hazards’ cannot be completely removed
2. Workplace hazards may be caused by the firms and managers
‘Unnecessary’ hazards because they are not caused by the nature of the work
> Many of the real world risks to which labourers are exposed involve a combination of both
> The distinction is not always sharp
1
