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Concept
Peon
Summary
Peon (English ˈpiːɒn, from the Spanish peón peˈon) usually refers to a person subject to peonage: any form of wage labor, financial exploitation, coercive economic practice, or policy in which the victim or a laborer (peon) has little control over employment or economic conditions. Peon and peonage can refer to both the colonial period and post-colonial period of Latin America, as well as the period after the end of slavery in the United States, when "Black Codes" were passed to retain African-American freedmen as labor through other means.
In English, peon (doublet of pawn) and peonage have meanings related to their Spanish etymology (foot soldier); a peon may be defined as a person with little authority, often assigned unskilled tasks; an underling or any person subjected to capricious or unreasonable oversight. In this sense, peon can be used in either a derogatory or self-effacing context.
There are similar usages in contemporary cultures:
South Asian dialects of English: a peon is an office boy, an attendant, or an orderly, a person kept around for odd jobs (and, historically, a policeman or foot soldier).
Shanghai: among native Chinese working in firms where English is spoken, the word refers to a worker with little authority, who suffers indignities from superiors.
However, the term has a historical basis and usage related to much more severe conditions of forced labor:
American English: in a historical and legal sense, peon generally referred to someone working in an unfree labor system (known as peonage). The word often implied debt bondage or indentured servitude.
Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies
The Spanish conquest of Mexico and Caribbean islands included peonage; the conquistadors forced natives to work for Spanish planters and mine operators. Peonage was prevalent in Latin America, especially in the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and Peru. It remains an important part of social life, as among the Urarina of the Peruvian Amazon.
After the American Civil War of 1861–1865, peonage developed in the Southern United States.
Official source
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