Does Skill Make Us Human?: Migrant Workers in 21st-Century Qatar and Beyond

An in-depth look at Qatar's migrant workers and the place of skill in the language of control and power

Skill—specifically the distinction between the “skilled” and “unskilled”—is generally defined as a measure of ability and training, but Does Skill Make Us Human? shows instead that skill distinctions are used to limit freedom, narrow political rights, and even deny access to imagination and desire. Natasha Iskander takes readers into Qatar’s booming construction industry in the lead-up to ...