exploitatsiooni

Exploitatsioon, or exploitation, is the act of using another person or group for one’s own advantage, typically under uneven power relations. The term is used across disciplines such as economics, sociology, political science, and human rights to describe how value, labor, or resources are extracted from a weaker party. In Estonian, the noun is exploitatsioon, and exploitatsiooni is its genitive form.

In Marxist political economy, exploitation refers to the extraction of surplus value created by workers, who are paid wages not fully reflecting the value of their labor. The surplus value accrues to owners or capitalists. Other approaches emphasize structural exploitation arising from institutions, norms, or market arrangements that perpetuate disadvantage for groups defined by gender, race, or nationality.

Common forms include economic exploitation (low pay, long hours, precarious contracts), forced labor and trafficking, colonial and neocolonial resource extraction, and, in the digital age, data exploitation and surveillance capitalism. Exploitation can be direct or indirect, visible or hidden, and may operate within or beyond formal legal frameworks.

Measuring exploitation is debated; indicators include wage shares, working conditions, and coercion, as well as broader inequality indicators. Policy responses include labor-law enforcement, fair-trade standards, anti-trafficking measures, unions, and responsible corporate practices aimed at reducing power imbalances.