Justin F. Jackson

The Work of Empire

War, Occupation, and the Making of American Colonialism in Cuba and the Philippines

“This is an innovative study of military-colonial labor relations in the Philippines and Cuba. . . . Jackson’s perspective offers a fresh take on empire studies—truly top-tier research.”

Zach Fredman, author of The Tormented Alliance: American Servicemen and the Occupation of China, 1941–1949 (UNC Press)

“The Work of Empire…is a stunning achievement that sweeps across the Atlantic and Pacific worlds to show the importance of military labor amidst US expansionism at the turn of the twentieth century. This is a major and beautifully written work that scholars of empire as well as military and labor history will need to read and contemplate.”

– Julie Greene, Professor of History, University of Maryland, author of Box 25: Archival Secrets, Caribbean Workers, and the Panama Canal (UNC Press)

“Truly remarkable…Astoundingly researched, stunningly wide-ranging and laser sharp in its analysis,” The Work of Empire “recognizes the US military’s reliance on non-US labor, reconceptualizes sovereignty, and deprovincializes labor history…An important piece of scholarship.”

– Kristin Hoganson, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, author of The Heartland: An American History (Penguin Press)

An “outstanding piece of work – deeply researched, very nicely written, and a real contribution to an important ongoing discussion among historians.”

– Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History Emeritus, Columbia University, author of The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution (W.W. Norton & Co.)

“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.“

– Stefan Aune, Williams College, author of Indian Wars Everywhere: Colonial Violence and the Shadow Doctrines of Empire (University of California Press)

“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.”

– Gavin O’Toole, Latin American Review of Books