Andrea Wright - Unruly Labor: A History of Oil in the Arabian Sea

In this discussion about her recent book, Unruly Labor: A History of Oil in the Arabian Sea, Andrea Wright will explore labor relations in the Gulf in the 1940s to the late 1960s, focusing on the progressive evacuation of politics from the oilfields and the solidification of racialized labour hierarchies. During this period, workers influenced corporate management practices and shaped local and imperial governance. In turn, workers’ strikes were shaped by oil company practices that included segregation based on nationality. A look at mid-century struggles helps us understand how changing notions of citizenship and rights arose in parallel with discourses that linked oil to national security. The result was that the political influence of oil workers was radically curtailed.

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