Book description
For decades, the agricultural settlements of Israel's arid Central Arabah prided themselves on their labor-Zionist commitment to abstaining from hiring outside labor. But beginning in the late 1980s, the region's agrarian economy was rapidly transformed by the removal of state protections, a shift to export-oriented monoculture, and an influx of…
Why read it?
1 author picked Capitalist Colonial as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I love this book because it is a bold and incredibly insightful ethnography of Thai migrant workers in Israel and their integration into the Israeli farming sector. This migrant population from the Isaan region in northeastern Thailand skillfully navigated relations with the settlers and adapted to their exclusion from Israeli society while maintaining ties to their families back home.
Matan Kaminer provides a brilliant, eloquent, and piercing analysis of labor and capitalist relations in this insightful ethnography.
From Piya's list on The best books for ethnographic study.
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