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| "And We Are Opening the Gates" (1922) by Nicolas Roerich |
In an earlier chapter, Soni reported that workers were not allowed to leave the labor camp. In this chapter, he reports "Technically, the workers were allowed to venture out between shifts. But the guards wrote up the badge number of any man who set foot outside in a book the bosses scanned every day" (116). Presumably, the bosses could use this information to decide to fire any workers who ventured out more than they believed was necessary.
Do you think that the difference was merely "technical"? Is it fair to say the workers weren't free if they "technically" were?
Only answer this question after you've read part three, chapter two.
The total power that the Signal administrators possessed over the lives of the workers is enough to assert that they really were not free. If the bosses had the ability to surveil them and, based on the extent to which they left the camp, destroy their lives by sending them back to India, then the technicality falls apart. If the only non-deportation alternative to terrible working conditions is to flee, illegally, into the US, then that already suggests the tyranny of the man-camp and of Signal's operations on the whole. Soni's description of armed guards, barbed wire fencing, and controlled exits paints a picture of a scheme put in place to control and dominate the workers' lives as completely as possible. Even if the migrants were "technically" free, intimidation is "technically" a means of exercising control over the individual. If technicalities are to be weaponized as part of a defense of company conduct, then why not counter with technicality?
ReplyDeleteHi Eli. I agree with what you said. If they have to constantly live in fear of going out in their free time because they may be sent back to India then they are not technically free. The description of the camp also gives off the vibe of a prison. Not a place where they can go to work to create a better future for their families.
DeleteI believe it is fair to say the workers in this camp aren't free. They aren't free because Signal dangles their opportunity of a new life right before them, and can take that opportunity away at any point. As Eli said, the power and tyranny that Signal exudes is too great to consider the workers as free men. Essentially, if the workers don't want to work there anymore, they lose all of their money and must flee illegally or return back home with nothing. Therefore, I think it would be unfair to consider these men free.
ReplyDeleteEven if they were "technically" allowed to leave they were still not free. Their badge numbers were taken down and put in a book for the bosses to scan. Since they were able to see who left you could presume that if someone did not come back, they could use this book to find out who it was and report them to ICE. It is fair to say they were not free because their livelihood laid in the hands of Signal. The job opportunity at Signal is what made them want to go to America. Signal was their way to pay off the debts they got coming to America. Signal was their way to provide for their family. Signal was their way to get their green card, or so they thought. As Adalyn Winters said in her comment Signal could take their opportunity of a new life away at any point. If Signal could hold that power over them then they were never free when they were there.
ReplyDelete-Abigayle Shropshire
I do not think the workers in the camp were free until the moment they all left. They were made to feel free with supervised Walmart visits and church on Sunday, but the reality of the situation was that they were always monitored. Letting them come and go but noting their badge number was an intimidation tactic and a way to monitor them even further. The workers knew that if they messed up and were sent back to India it would further ruin their lives and their families’ lives too. Signal used this against them to control them as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteThe workers at Signal were anything but free due to the control that the Signal employees had over them. Even though the employees never told them they could not leave, they still kept records of those who left, and could use it against them or fire then when the time came and they felt as if they were going out too much. The employees had full control over the workers and would use factors such as threatening them and intimidating them. They would threaten the workers by telling them they would send them back to India or that they would not give them their green card even though that was not in their plan to give them one anyways.
ReplyDelete