As colonialism reached an end, developed countries required an effective way to continue gathering resources from former colonies, thus producing the current issue of neocolonialism. Multinational corporations illegally dump materials and take advantage of socially unstable regions in the world, as lecturer James Tsabora revealed. In particular, Somalia faces dire political conditions alongside uncontrolled piracy by both foreign and domestic powers. Subsequently, multinational corporations have taken advantage of this current state of Somalia to wreak environmental damage across the nation by polluting their waters with toxic waste. Tsabora also revealed that corporations rely on criminal networks to increase their profit and gain. This, in addition to the reluctance of foreign powers to apply stricter laws against known corporations that are guilty of illegal activities in other parts of the world, provides major obstacles to the economic and social development of African states. Tsabora contended a solution, arguing that there is a necessity for international criminal laws to raise more attention to this serious issue and collaborate with corporations in order to hold corporations directly accountable for exploiting countries during times of conflict. Similarly, Professors of Anthropology Jessica Smith and Frederico Helfgott contended on more “legal” exploitation, which involves a lack of job security and overworked workers in South America, a common phenomenon with sweatshops and other physical labor in corporations in the Third World. Smith and Helfgott found a similar solution to Tsabora as they recommended better legalities to protect the security of workers and more efficient working conditions to avoid the exploitation of labor and protect worker’s rights.
Neocolonialism and Human Rights
However, neocolonialism also moves past issues of corporate exploitation into the abuses of human rights, as discrimination and prejudice from the colonial era pave the path for continued oppression. Associate Professor of Anthropology Aida Hernandez Castillo revealed that organized groups of Indigenous women who were fighting against the abuses of their human rights with insurgencies in Mexico faced sexual torture, rape, and mutilation to prohibit these rebellions, many of which were officially declared as natural deaths or remain unreported. In addition, the predominantly patriarchal society forces women to continue to face extreme femicide. Indigenous people find themselves in fear of fighting against the social, economic, and political discriminations the government places on them. These issues are not only present in Mexico but in many other areas of the world which suffer from unstable political climates and rapid rebellions.
Recommendations
Evidently, it is critical to see improvements in the political stance to protect human rights and avoid further economic exploitation. But to do so, more people need to be aware of these issues as the lack of present alarm allows these violations to continue and increase over time. In order to see improvement, corporations need to be held accountable, multinational company regulations need to be improved, and the rights of indigenous people need to be protected.
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