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High-profile events such as the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar have made one thing abundantly clear: Much of today's economic growth would be unthinkable without the low-wage employment of migrant workers. But which cultural, economic, and political infrastructures in the »source« countries make these types of migration possible in the first place? Based on multi-sensory ethnographic research in Nepal, Hannah Uprety retraces the practices of recruitment and instruction that - step by step - transform Nepali labor into an internationally marketable commodity. In doing so, she uncovers a migration regime that effectively turns local men and women into »migrant workers« before they even leave the country.
About the author
Hannah Uprety, born in 1986, obtained her PhD in geography at Universität Münster. Her interests include migration studies, globalization and transnational labor, as well as poststructuralist, postcolonial, and feminist perspectives. She currently works in the social sector.
Summary
High-profile events such as the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar have made one thing abundantly clear: Much of today's economic growth would be unthinkable without the low-wage employment of migrant workers. But which cultural, economic, and political infrastructures in the »source« countries make these types of migration possible in the first place? Based on multi-sensory ethnographic research in Nepal, Hannah Uprety retraces the practices of recruitment and instruction that – step by step – transform Nepali labor into an internationally marketable commodity. In doing so, she uncovers a migration regime that effectively turns local men and women into »migrant workers« before they even leave the country.
Additional text
»For anyone invested in migration studies, labor politics, or governmentality in Nepal as an interplay of the informality of the market, ubiquitous ›subterranean‹ (read: fraudulent) practices, and the state, this book is a must-read.«
Report
»The book contributes importantly to a much needed holistic analysis that weaves the local, national, and international functioning of the labour market to create and sustain hierarchies based on ethnicity and nationality, and use these criteria to bend workers to submit, to the benefit of employers and recruitment agencies.«
Anita Ghimire, Pacific Affairs, 97/3 (2024)
