2025/09/01 by Reena N. Goldthree · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Communism, Protests, Social Movements #Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics #World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact
paper · pdf · doi:10.1215/15476715-11822208
openalex publication_date 2025/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/21 · openalex updated_date 2026/03/10
S ometime in 1918, as World War I stretched into its fourth year, "a large number" of West Indian men abandoned their jobs in the interior of the Brazilian Amazon and began an arduous journey northward to the state of Par.The migrant workers trekked for weeks "through forest and by river." Eventually, they arrived in the city of Belm, the nearest port from which they could take a ship to England to "join His Majesty's Forces at the front." When the local British consul informed the prospective soldiers that a ship would not be available for several weeks, the men demanded to begin their military training for the British army while in Brazil.During their prolonged stay in Belm, the men completed "weeks of strenuous drilling," carried rifles while on parade, and "comported themselves . . .as 'soldiers of the King.'" As the British consul reported, "Such was their enthusiasm that they implored that they might be drilled during the time of waiting so that when at last they should arrive in England, they would be the sooner fitted to get into the trenches." 1 What motivated West Indian migrant workers in Brazil to form the short-lived "Par Contingent" of the British army during World War I? Why did these men, living thousands of miles from recruitment centers and the trenches of the Western Front, volunteer eagerly for military service?And how can we gain a deeper understanding of the complex ways that warfare and military service have shaped the lives of laboring people?In his wide-ranging and insightful article, Justin Jackson introduces the concept of "wages of war" to explore the "subjectivity of workers enmeshed in martial life (and death) across periods of war and peace." 2 Building on the Du Boisian concept of a "public and psychological wage," Jackson seeks to explain working-class participation in military projects by highlighting the myriad forms of compensation that 1.