post-imperialism analogy is actually a good analogy

Yes. My analogy works at the analytical level, although the historical situations are obviously different.

Suppose a newly independent state is legally sovereign.

It has:

political freedom / formal sovereignty.

But suppose it has:

little capital;

dependence on foreign loans;

dependence on major powers;

limited military capacity;

dependence on foreign markets.

Then:

formal political independence does not automatically produce equivalent practical bargaining power.

In a bipolar system, a small state might have only two major geopolitical choices, and both superpowers could exert pressure on it.

In a unipolar system, its alternatives might be even more constrained.

So my analytical distinction is:

formal freedom is the equal capacity to exercise freedom.

The same analytical structure can be applied to labor:

legal freedom is the equal bargaining power.