Mandatory Low-Paid Labour

A Mandatory Low-Paid Labour is an mandatory unpaid labour for a limited period.

AKA: Corvée, Involuntary Low-Paid Labor.
Context:
- It can (often) be imposed for Public Works.
- It can (often) be seen as a form of levy where the labor obligation substitutes financial payment.
- It can sometimes be seasonal, aligning with agricultural cycles or specific state projects.
- It can range from Short-Duration Mandatory Free Labour to being a Long-Duration Mandatory Free Labour.
- It can range from State-Imposed Mandatory Free Labour to being a Feudal-Imposed Mandatory Free Labour.
- It can range from State Governments Mandatory Free Labour to Feudal Lords Mandatory Free Labour, to Religious institutions Mandatory Free Labour, or Local Community Institution Mandatory Free Labour, based on the authority.
- It can vary in scale from national-level projects imposed by central governments to local initiatives mandated by village or town authorities.
- It can serve diverse purposes, from state-driven infrastructure projects to feudal agricultural obligations or community-based collective efforts.
- It can be a form of punishment or civic duty, depending on the governing laws and social structure.
- It can also be found in modern contexts under different names, such as compulsory community service.
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Example(s):
- Ancient Egyptian Corvées (27th century BCE - 22nd century BCE), such as to construct Egyptian pyramids.
- Medieval and Early Modern European Corvée:
  - Medieval European Corvées (5th century CE - 15th century CE), where peasants worked on the lord's land for several days each year.
  - French Ancien Régime Corvées (14th century CE - 18th century CE), where peasants had to work on the roads.
  - Medieval European Corvées (5th century CE - 15th century CE), where peasants worked on the lord's land for several days each year.
- Colonial Mandatory Free Labour (16th century CE - 20th century CE), imposed by colonial powers, such as:
  - ...
- Agricultural and Tenant Labor:
  - Mandatory Tenant Farmer (17th century CE - 19th century CE), requiring tenant farmers to perform labor for landlords on private estates.
  - Agricultural Mandatory Free Labour (various periods), involving agricultural labor.
- Public Works and Infrastructure:
  - Statute Labour, where the state demands work for public projects.
  - Mandatory Free Public Building Maintenance (various periods), conducting maintenance of public buildings.
- Mandatory Free Military Service (military service), such as:
  - ...
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- Japanese Corvee:
  - Japanese Yōeki system (8th century CE - 12th century CE), during the Nara and Heian periods, requiring peasants to work on public projects.
  - Japanese Kuniyaku (17th century CE - 19th century CE), imposed by domain lords during the Edo period for infrastructure projects.
  - Japanese Mura-yaku (various periods), village-level corvée system for local community projects.
  - Japanese Chokai duties (20th century CE - present), in modern neighborhood associations, resembling mild forms of corvée labor.
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Counter-Example(s):
- Tithe or other forms of taxation as it does not require the population to have land, crops, or cash.
- Paid Labor, where workers receive compensation.
- Voluntary Community Service, which is performed willingly and not mandated by authorities.
- Free Labor, where individuals choose their employment and receive wages.
See: State (Polity), Public Works, Taxation, Community Work, Uruk.

References

2022

(Wikipedia, 2022) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvée Retrieved:2022-1-30.
- Corvée is a form of unpaid, forced labour, which is intermittent in nature and which lasts limited periods of time: typically only a certain number of days' work each year.
  Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state for the purposes of public works. As such it represents a form of levy (taxation). Unlike other forms of levy, such as a tithe, a corvée does not require the population to have land, crops or cash. The obligation for tenant farmers to perform corvée work for landlords on private landed estates was widespread throughout history before the Industrial Revolution. The term is most typically used in reference to medieval and early modern Europe, where work was often expected by a feudal landowner (of their vassals), or by a monarch of their subjects. However, the application of the term is not limited to that time or place; corvée has existed in modern and ancient Egypt, ancient Sumer, ancient Rome, China, Japan, everywhere in continental Europe, the Incan civilization, Haiti under Henry I and under American occupation (1915–1934), and Portugal's African colonies until the mid-1960s. Forms of statute labour officially existed until the early twentieth century in Canada and the United States.