Summary Of Andrew Gardner's City Of Strangers

Andrew Gardner, in his book, City of Strangers: Gulf Migration and the Indian Community in Bahrain, has taken a deeper insight into the lives of “Indian transnational proletariat” (Gardner 49). Skillful use of one of the best methods of research, i.e. field study, lets Gardner influentially explain the overall framework of the structural violence in effect in the Gulf countries; especially Bahrain. Gardner draws a clear hierarchy of the factors contributing to structural violence, and the extent to which these factors contribute to the never-ending exploitation of the migrant workers. By exploring many different cases in the labor camps of Bahrain, Gardner highlights the situations that lead to ultimate ‘sufferings,’ of the laborers; like the financial hardships in home countries, the captivity due to the contracts, the inability to resist due to “cultural and linguistic barriers” (Gardner 63).
The laws govern the inhibition of the foreign workers to interact with the government, as only Bahraini citizens are allowed to interact with the government agencies directly. As a result, the foreign workers have to totally depend on their sponsors or local citizens for their fate; directing us to a new concept of “contract slavery,” described by Gardner as a new form of slavery, in which “the contract is used as an enticement to trick an individual into slavery, as well as a way of making the slavery look legitimate” (Gardner 67,68). Gardner also describes the helplessness of the workers due to debts, family responsibilities, vulnerable positions in the society, and the fear of deportation, which ultimately leads to a positive feedback loop, exaggerating the already existing structural