The term economic oppression, sometimes misunderstood in the sense of economic sanction, embargo or economic boycott, has a different meaning and significance, and its meaning as well as its significance has been changing over a period of time, and its contextual application. A form of economic oppression is mentioned in a verse of the Hebrew Bible : "And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another." On the other hand, in today’s context, economic oppression may take several forms, including the practice of bonded labour in some parts of India; serfdom; forced labour; low wages; denial of equal opportunity; practicing employment discrimination; and economic discrimination based on sex, nationality, race, and religion.
Famous quotes containing the words economic and/or oppression:
“Three factors—the belief that child care is female work, the failure of ex-husbands to support their children, and higher male wages at work—have taken the economic rug from under that half of married women who divorce.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)
“People think they have taken quite an extraordinarily bold step forward when they have rid themselves of belief in hereditary monarchy and swear by the democratic republic. In reality, however, the state is nothing but a machine for the oppression of one class by another, and indeed in the democratic republic no less than in the monarchy.”
—Friedrich Engels (1820–1895)