From Military to Market: the Global Political Economy of Race and Gender in Private Military and Security Company Labour Chains

Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) are having a profound impact on the ways in which security governance is organised globally. Taking on roles of consultancy to armed contracting these companies are altering how war and security is practiced. The economic scale of their operations is also noteworthy. These companies are apart of a multibillion dollar industry that is involved in international security operations in, for example, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya as well as in prisons in the UK and the US. Their clients include the private commercial sector, government bodies and non government organisations. The growth of their operations is matched by a plethora of academic inquiries and journalist reports, which have demonstrated the ways in which these companies are changing security-from a state driven practice to a shared assemblage with private companies, and the associated legal and practical issues. Yet connecting PMSC to political economy of labour has been so far absent. Such a gap misses the significant ways in which these companies are changing how global labour is being organised in preparation for and support of security operations. It also misses the ways in which global South labourers are increasingly called upon to not only provide armed and unarmed security protection, but to conduct the necessary logistics roles that support such operations.

This study seeks to address this empirical and theoretical gap in research on private security. It asks:

1. How are the recruitment and management practices of security chains in Qatar informed by race and gender relations?

2. How does race and gender shape the migrant and their families' experiences? and,

3. What are the coping strategies migrant communities and their families adopt and how can they inform corporate social responsibility (CSR) in labour recruitment companies and government policies on labour management?

It is an ambitious and timely research project that works directly with two international recruitment and labour management companies that recruit on behalf of PMSCs and other international commercial entities. It compares two Nepalese labour chains that support PMSCs' global operations; the security and logistics labour chains that are being recruited for work in Qatar. Qatar and Nepal are both important countries to study. Qatar, a small Gulf State with large scale development plans and the host of the upcoming 2022 World Cup, relies heavily upon foreign labour to meet its logistics and security needs. Nepal, is a country that has 200 years of foreign migration history and exporting its population for work abroad is a key economic development strategy. By working directly with the migrants, their families, the recruitment companies, government bodies and the "end users" of the logistics and security services, this study will gain a sophisticated and holistic insight into how security and logistics labour is constructed and sustained and where best practices are located.

Planned outputs include both academic and nonacademic deliverables. Academic deliverables are 2 specialised workshops for cross sharing of knowledge and networking, 1 manuscript and 3 academic journal articles in top ranked peer reviewed journal. Non-academic deliverables include 1 toolkit aimed at commercial and government users of foreign labour to identify better auditing mechanisms, 1 toolkit aimed at migrants and their families to promote informed decisions in which companies to work with and which recruitment agencies to go through, 1 ethical recruitment accreditation document to be built into Qatar's tender processes, 3 professional podcasts on migrant labour from perspectives of the migrants, the recruitment agencies and government to be used as a teaching tool in universities and commercial social marketing, 1 short animation on migrant labour to be used as a teaching tool for migrant communities and in universities.

As is reflected in the Letters of Supports, key academics and commercial stakeholders have been integral to the design of this research project and have vested interest in seeing particular outcomes. In addition, I have had extensive discussions with NGOs in Nepal working on migrant related issues, representatives from the international labour organisation (ILO), Amnesty International and Qatar government representatives. All have assisted in developing this project with the intent in improving the work practices and conditions of migrant workers in Qatar.
There are 4 main groups on whom this research will impact, described below with examples of how the impact might occur (NB: * = have expressed clear interests as users and/or join the project Advisory Committee)
1) Migrant communities in Nepal and NGOs and IOs working on migrant issues
Examples: ILO Nepal, Pourakhi, a local based NGO working with women in migrant communities in Nepal, Freedom Foundation, a commercial based charity that assists in the welfare of migrant worker communities. Intended outcomes to facilitate these stakeholders would be developing a migrant worker toolkit to help migrants and their families make informed decisions about working abroad and have a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with foreign work. This would be developed in both hard and soft copies and in a user friendly format in consultation with these stakeholders. It would be fed into existing education programs and hosted on websites.
2) Recruitment and Labour Management Commercial Groups and Migrant communities in Qatar
Examples: Global Staffing Solutions (GSS)*, FSI Worldwide *, migrant labourers working for both global recruitment companies. Intended outcomes are ethical recruitment accreditation document and ethical toolkit to demonstrate 1) empirically informed ethical recruitment works in practices and makes a good business model to be used to help develop their business to broader audiences 2) identify strategies and tips on auditing existing practices to better manage their internal practices.
3) Qatar and Nepal Government Representatives responsible for labour welfare management
Examples: Nepal Ministry of Labour, Qatar Ministry of Labour, Qatar Supreme Committee for the Delivery and Legacy of World Cup 2022
Evidence-based ethical recruitment accreditation document to be built into existing legislation and tendering procedures to ensure ethical recruitment and management strategies for companies are an integral part of the bidding process.
4) Academics in Qatar and Newcastle working on global labour chains and ethical recruitment practices
Examples: Dr. Zahra Barbar* of Georgetown University in Qatar and Dr. Ray Jureidini* of Qatar Foundation, Dr. Alex Hughes* and Prof Rachel Woodward* of Newcastle University and Dr. Phillips and Dr. LeBaron of Sheffield. Evidence based research will be cross shared and networks with key academics working on labour migration will be developed throughout the duration of this project through workshops and conferences. Podcasts and animation video on migrant work will be disseminated through networks to build into university teaching.
Collaboration with users is an integral part of this research. Throughout the project, I will engage with different users in four main pathways (see Pathways to Impact for full details): 1) Sustained public engagement and knowledge sharing; 2) Co- organisation of research activities; 3) Wide involvement in refining research findings; and 4) Comprehensive user- appropriate publication plan.