War is one of the most lucrative job markets for an increasingly
global workforce. Most of the work on American bases, everything
from manning guard towers to cleaning the latrines to more
technical engineering and accounting jobs, has been outsourced to
private firms that then contract out individual jobs, often to the
lowest bidder. An "American" base in Afghanistan or Iraq will be
staffed with workers from places like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the
Philippines, Turkey, Bosnia, and Nepal: so-called "third-country
nationals." Tens of thousands of these workers are now fixtures on
American bases. Yet, in the plethora of records kept by the U.S.
government, they are unseen and uncounted—their stories untold.
Noah Coburn traces this unseen workforce across seven countries,
following the workers' often zigzagging journey to war. He
confronts the varied conditions third-country nationals encounter,
ranging from near slavery to more mundane forms of exploitation.
Visiting a British Imperial training camp in Nepal, U.S. bases in
Afghanistan, a café in Tbilisi, offices in Ankara, and human
traffickers in Delhi, Coburn seeks out a better understanding of
the people who make up this unseen workforce, sharing powerful
stories of hope and struggle. Part memoir, part travelogue, and
part retelling of the war in Afghanistan through the eyes of
workers, Under Contract unspools a complex global web of how modern
wars are fought and supported, narrating war stories unlike any
other. Coburn's experience forces readers to reckon with the moral
questions of a hidden global war-force and the costs being
shouldered by foreign nationals in our name.
General
| Imprint: |
Stanford University Press
|
| Country of origin: |
United States |
| Release date: |
August 2018 |
| First published: |
2018 |
| Authors: |
Noah Coburn
|
| Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 43mm (L x W x T) |
| Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth
|
| Pages: |
408 |
| ISBN-13: |
978-1-5036-0536-7 |
| Categories: |
Books
Promotions
|
| LSN: |
1-5036-0536-1 |
| Barcode: |
9781503605367 |
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