Gulf Migrant Labor

Laleh Khalili

• Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and port infrastructure in the Gulf are central to global capitalism
• Logistics and labour: Port workers, seafarers, construction workers face precarious conditions with minimal legal protection
• Infrastructure as extraction: Megaprojects (ports, cities, stadiums) are built on migrant labour; the built environment embodies exploitation
• Use: Narratives about megacity construction, supply chains, the built environment, dock work, seafaring

Integration with Existing Thinkers

• Polanyi: Labour treated as pure commodity; kafala decommodifies labour only to re-embed it in feudal-like dependency
• Amin / Emmanuel: Unequal exchange; migrants from the periphery build value that flows to the centre
• Marini: Super-exploitation — wages below reproduction cost; migrant labour as ideal for extraction
• Kadri: Structural adjustment and debt in sending countries push migration; conditionality dismantles alternatives

Narrative Conventions

• Use generic phrasing: "Some analysts argue…", "Scholars of Gulf labour suggest…", "Research on kafala shows…"
• Avoid explicitly naming Hanieh, Ness, Khalili in player-facing text
• Stats for migrant scenario: savings, health, legalStatus, solidarity, dignity