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Empire's Labor: The Global Army That Supports U.S. Wars
- Narrated by: Gary Roelofs
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Categories: History, Military
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Publisher's Summary
In a dramatic unveiling of the little-known world of contracted military logistics, Adam Moore examines the lives of the global army of laborers who support US overseas wars. Empire's Labor brings us the experience of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who perform jobs such as truck drivers and administrative assistants at bases located in warzones in the Middle East and Africa. He highlights the changes the US military has undergone since the Vietnam War, when the ratio of contractors to uniformed personnel was roughly 1:6. In Afghanistan it has been as high as 4:1.
Focusing on workers from the Philippines and Bosnia, two major sources of "third country national" (TCN) military labor, Moore explains the rise of large-scale logistics outsourcing since the end of the Cold War; describes the networks, infrastructures, and practices that span the spaces through which people, information, and goods circulate; and reveals the experiences of foreign workers, from the hidden dynamics of labor activism on bases, to the economic and social impacts these jobs have on their families and the communities they hail from.
The book is published by Cornell University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.
Critic Reviews
"A beautifully written, essential book exposing the labor and labor exploitation underpinning the military industrial complex, U.S. empire, and the corporations fueling permanent war." (David Vine, author of Base Nation)
"Will be a foundational text for understanding contemporary war and providing insight into labor's pushback." (Catherine Lutz, author of Homefront and An Empire of Bases)