The rights organization claims in Oxfam International’s most recent annual report on global inequality, the United Kingdom (UK) extracted an incredible $64.82 trillion from India throughout the colonial era, which lasted from 1765 to 1900.
The richest ten percent took $33.8 trillion of this enormous amount. This sum of money, to put it in context, would cover the city of London almost four times over with 50-pound notes.
Just hours before the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, which is anticipated to be attended by world leaders, began, the ‘Takers, not Makers’ study was released on Monday, January 20.
The report cites a number of studies and research papers to support its claim that colonialism is the only cause of contemporary multinational businesses, stating that “Legacies of inequality and pathologies of plunder, pioneered during the time of historical colonialism, continue to shape modern lives.”
It further stated that many of the wealthiest individuals in the United Kingdom today may link their family wealth to colonialism and slavery, particularly the compensation given to wealthy enslavers at the abolition of slavery.
According to Oxfam, colonialism gave rise to the modern multinational corporation (MNC), with the East India Company setting the standard. Many colonial crimes were committed by the East India Company, which largely followed its own set of regulations.
Global supply chains and industries that process exports are examples of contemporary colonial systems of wealth extraction from the south to the north. According to the report, workers in these supply chains frequently face poor working conditions, have no social protection, and no rights to collective bargaining.
According to Oxfam, earnings in the Global South are between 87 and 95 percent lower than those in the Global North for jobs requiring the same skill level.
Global supply networks are mostly under the hands of large multinational corporations. These companies benefit from continued resource exploitation from the Global South and cheap labor. Through economic techniques, they maintain a cycle of exploitation, control, and dependence while keeping the majority of earnings.
The report points 3.7 million Indian, Chinese, African, Japanese, Melanesian, and other individuals were transferred between the 1830s and 1920s to serve as indentured laborers on colonial plantations and mines and to build infrastructure.
The research also pointed out that by 1940, the top earners in India were mostly traders, bankers, and industrialists, whereas in 1875, they were mostly European officials in the army and government.
