The Work of Empire - by Justin F Jackson

About the Book

"In 1898, on the eve of the Spanish-American War, the US Army seemed minuscule and ill-equipped for global conflict, yet its soldiers defeated Spain and pacified nationalist insurgencies in Cuba and the Philippines over the next fifteen years. Despite its lack of experience in colonial administration, the army also ruled and transformed the daily lives of the 8 million people who inhabited these tropical islands. How did the relatively small and inexperienced army succeed in managing the day-to-day operations in its new territories? The US military depended on tens of thousands of Cubans and Filipinos to fight its wars and do the work of civil government. Whether compelled to labor for free or voluntarily working for wages, Cubans and Filipinos, suspended between civilian and soldier status, enabled US foreign rule by interpreting, guiding, building, selling sex to, and performing numerous other labors for American troops. In The Work of Empire, Justin Jackson reveals how their work disrupted the islands' older political, economic, and cultural hierarchies in ways that endured in postwar and post-occupation 'civilian' regimes. Jackson offers new ways to understand not only the rise of US military might but also how this power influenced a globalizing imperial world"--

Book Synopsis

In 1898, on the eve of the Spanish-American War, the US Army seemed minuscule and ill-equipped for global conflict. Yet over the next fifteen years, its soldiers defeated Spain and pacified nationalist insurgencies in both Cuba and the Philippines. Despite their lack of experience in colonial administration, American troops also ruled and transformed the daily lives of the 8 million people who inhabited these tropical islands.
How was this relatively small and inexperienced army able to wage wars in Cuba and the Philippines and occupy them? American soldiers depended on tens of thousands of Cubans and Filipinos, both for military operations and civil government. Whether compelled to labor for free or voluntarily working for wages, Cubans and Filipinos, suspended between civilian and soldier status, enabled the making of a new US overseas empire by interpreting, guiding, building, selling sex, and many other kinds of work for American troops. In The Work of Empire, Justin Jackson reveals how their labor forged the politics, economics, and culture of American colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines and left an enduring imprint on these islands and the US Army itself. Jackson offers new ways to understand the rise of American military might and how it influenced a globalizing imperial world.

Review Quotes

"Jackson's expansive new book . . . shows how the United States' military colonialism at the turn of the century was realized, in no small part, through the efforts of Cuban, Filipino, and Chinese workers. The US empire was articulated through various forms of subaltern labor in crucial ways, but it was also contested, challenged, and destabilized in the process, often to the chagrin of soldiers seeking to impose a modernizing, technocratic efficiency. . . . Jackson's deep engagement with a transnational set of archives merges with a thoughtful exploration of more conceptual questions around labor, difference, and the ways in which imperial power is mobilized."--Diplomatic History

"A fascinating exploration of the critically important role played by labour in the creation of an empire. . . . Jackson provides an extremely valuable new focus on US imperialism that orients our attention to the role of workers themselves in empire-building--as well as instances in which they asserted the power to change it."--Latin American Review of Books

About the Author

Justin F. Jackson is Lecturer and Visiting Scholar, Department of History, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst