Under Contract: The Invisible Workers of America’s Global War

In this insightful study, Coburn (Losing Afghanistan: An Obituary for the Intervention), an anthropologist at Bennington College, turns his eye to an infrequently discussed element of the war in Afghanistan. He interviewed about 250 of the more than 117,000 contract workers hired by the U.S. Defense Department to work on tasks including security and preparing meals for the U.S. military, hoping to get an in-depth sense of their experiences. The book’s subtitle is somewhat misleading, because it is not a broad overview of such workers around the world but is focused specifically on Nepalese workers employed by the U.S. in Afghanistan. Coburn shows how some prospered, making far more money than they could in Nepal or elsewhere, while others faced economic hardship or such extreme dangers as kidnapping and murder at the hands of terrorists. He also finds that contract workers engaged by U.S. companies usually didn’t receive disability payments or pensions and, even when in danger, only rarely received visas to come to the U.S. Some material, though interesting, is largely extraneous; Coburn digresses on Gurkhas in the British army who, after retiring, went into business in Aldershot, England, and Nepalese men who, after employment in Afghanistan, did security work for a shady Russian billionaire. Still, this work contains some excellent insights into and personal stories about the risk-laden employment and economic opportunities facing those who assume the many ancillary roles afforded by America’s “endless war.” (Sept.)