Unequal Exchange and Labour Exploitation: Indonesian Migrant Workers in Taiwan’s Fishing Industry

This article examines the structural exploitation of Indonesian migrant fishers [anak buah kapal (ABK)] in Taiwan’s fishing industry through the lens of Marxist political economy and world-systems theory, drawing on Marx’s theory of value and Emmanuel’s concept of unequal exchange. Based on fieldwork, semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis, it reveals how ABKs are incorporated into global capitalism as a hyper-precarious labour force, subjected to wage suppression, contract manipulation, and debt-based recruitment. Recruitment agencies sustain cycles of dependency, restricting worker mobility and reinforcing economic vulnerability. As a semi-peripheral economy, Taiwan extracts surplus value from peripheral labour while remaining subordinate to core markets within the global seafood supply chain. The article argues that legal exclusions, jurisdictional fragmentation, and delegated coercion underpin a vertically integrated system of transnational labour control. By situating ABKs labour within global production networks, the analysis highlights its foundational role in capital accumulation and calls for a structural critique of transnational labour governance.