Sum total of books in the University of Washington library under the Library of Congress category of *exploitation*:
Num Mark LC SUBJECTS (1-2 of 2) Year
Exploitation 1 Exploitation / Alan Wertheimer c1996 2 Financial Exploitation Of The Elderly : Field Hearing Before The Subcommittee On General Oversight
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What an odd thing. I tried the same subject listing in Melyvl at UCB and got 29 listings.
You would think for country that devotes about 99.9995% of its entire material and human resouces on this single subject in all its nuances, we would have more to say about it.
You should ask one of the older librarians. It might be there is some twisted `library science' theory on referencing subject topics that puts exploitation into a very marginal category.
Besides the obvious self-censorship of authors and reseachers who would rather call it something nice like free enterprise or development, it could also be or in addition reflect a curiousity about English and translations.
I use the word almost exclusively to denote mastering, extracting, and extorting not only an advantage and profit from either human labor or a natural resource, but doing so in a brutal and self-serving manner in complete disregard for the impact or consequences.
In other words, its a damned ugly word.
Its also a French word (naturally) or has french or gallic-roman roots. [From OED]: ``ME. esploit, explait, -ployte - OFr. explait achievement, esploit m., esploite fem. (mod. exploit):- Gallo-Rom. *explictum, *-ta, L. explicitum, -ta n. and fem. pa. pples. of explicare....''
Who knows what it sounds like to French ears. Explicate goes to the nuance of bringing out what is implicit, so it might sound slightly more subtle in French---more subtle than the English or Dickensonian whipping and beating of laborers in order to extort them for profit---which is what it sounds like to my ear. On the other hand, their academics might just be more blunt and more politically aware---and less the apologists than the American saps.
I use exploitation almost exclusively to give a harsh Marxist ring to discourse. About the only place I remember hearing it used prior to my own sort of political awakening was in older, more naive, and less media conscious narratives on the uses of natural resources. So, instead, these days the newer slimier word, development, is used to elade the more obviously egregious implications.
For example, exploiting mineral desposits, used to sound like just digging around in some forgotten wasteland---and didn't always evoke images of vast commerical strip mining operations running gargantuan Tonka toys that devastated some completely benign and pristine wilderness.
So, Ian, you might have just stumbled onto some slight flaw in the great neoliberal propaganda facade---some minor over looked detail that Syme and Winston missed, but which opens up the chasm of disbelief, like a magic wand.
With this thought in mind, try words like development which implies all those bright and shinny modernist futures of Ingsoc, in place of the postmodern, dossiers noirs.
Isn't that a nice phrase? See the last entry below: Les Dossiers noirs de la politique africaine...
Chuck Grimes
PS. Here is a sample of what I got under exploitation from Melvyl:
21. L'utilisation durable des forets quebecoises : de l'exploitation a la protection /, sous la direction de Danielle Cantin et Catherine Potvin ; [textes de Andre Bouchard ... et al.]. Sainte-Foy [Quebec] : Presses de l'Universite Laval, 1996. xiv, 157 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm. Related titles: Forets quebecoises Language: French
22. Utting, Peter. Trees, people, and power : social dimensions of deforestation and forest protection in Central America /, Peter Utting. London : Earthscan Publications, 1993. xv, 206 p. : maps ; 22 cm.
23. Water resources development in Asia and the Pacific : dam safety evaluation and monitoring, water tariffs and rain-water harvesting /, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Bangkok : United Nations, 1989. vii, 118 p. : ill. ; 29 cm. Series title: Water resources series ; no. 63. 0082-8130 ;, Water resources series (New York, N.Y.) ; no. 63.
24. Wertheimer, Alan. Exploitation /, Alan Wertheimer. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1996. xiv, 316 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
25. Wertheimer, Alan. Exploitation. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 1999. 316 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
26. Brouwer, Steve, 1947-. Conquest and capitalism, 1492-1992 /, by Steve Brouwer Carlisle, Pa. : Big Picture Books, [1992?] iii, 116 p. : ill. ; 28 cm
27. VIDEORECORDING. Le salaire de la peur Wages of fear /, C.I.C.C--Filmsonor, Vera Film--Fono Roma ; un film de Henri-Georges Clouzot ; adaptation et dialogues de H.G. Clouzot et Jerome Geronimi ; producteurs delegues, R. Borderie et H.G. Clouzot Director's cut [Irvington, N.Y.?] : Classic Collection, 1999 1 videodisc (148 min.) : sd., b&w ; 4 3/4 in DVD; Dolby digital mono Series title: The Criterion collection ; 36, The Criterion collection ; 36 Related titles: Wages of fear Title on container: Henri-Georges Clouzot's wages of fear Language: In French, Spanish, Italian, German and English with optional English subtitles Language: French
28. Haber, Fred, 1924-. Power and price : how a market economy really works and why its theoretical support must be challenged /, Fred Haber. 2nd ed. revised and updated. Los Angeles, Calif. : Americas Group, c2000. 127 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
29. Le silence de la foret : Reseaux, mafias et filiere bois au Cameroun /, Agir ici et Survie. Paris : Harmattan, 2000. 91 p. ; 22 cm. Series title: Dossiers noirs ; no. 14, Les Dossiers noirs de la politique africaine de la France ; no.14 Language: French