Introduction

Summary

After profiling a disabled woman who lives by her wits and a meeting of potential guest workers in Jamaica who were subjected to the humiliations of labor recruiters, I raise the central questions that guide the narrative. Why does conventional economics ignore so many forms of labor? What roles do reproductive, domestic productive, cultural, and other forms of labor play in economies? How do they provide theoretical clues to understanding the world's many economies? The chapter ends with a brief history of the preoccupation among early states and employers with labor control, which has been at the heart of today's guest worker programs.