noun
- plural of peonism; instances or systems of peonage, a form of labor servitude in which workers are bound to an employer through debt.
Usage: historical; often used in discussions of labor exploitation and social injustice
Examples
- The peonisms of the American South persisted long after slavery's formal abolition.
- Historians have documented various peonisms across Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Labor reformers fought against the peonisms that trapped workers in cycles of debt.
- The novel explores how peonisms affected indigenous populations in colonial territories.