In Williams and Xuan Santos’s article titled “Global Capitalism, Immigrant Labor, and the
Struggle for Justice,” it is made very clear that the way global capitalism produces circuits of
vulnerable populations of immigrant labor is by using a multitude of questionable tactics, such as
state repression, primitive accumulation, and the implementation of free trade agreements. In the
article both authors HEAVILEY criticize our current global capitalist system and they explain
how the rise of a transnational capitalist class, transnational state apparatuses, and globally
integrated production and financial systems attribute to the deep reliance on the rapidly
expanding reserve army of immigrant labor, which is disenfranchised and easy to control. Its
these very vulnerable systems of transnational labor mobility and recruitment that make it
possible for dominant groups worldwide to reorganize labor markets, ultimately creating
vulnerable circuits of immigrant labor.
To start off One method by which global capitalism produces circuits of vulnerable populations
of immigrant labor is through the repression of undocumented immigrants. State repression and
criminalization of undocumented immigration make immigrants VERY vulnerable to
deportation, forcing them to accept exploitative working conditions to avoid being caught and
deported back to their home country, this broken system thrives on the premise that
undocumented immigrants have no protection or rights and are exploitable, leading to their
growing populations in different countries around the world. In Addition to repression of
undocumented immigrants, global capitalism creates expanding vulnerable populations of
immigrant labor by utilizing primitive accumulation to displace people from their homes, so they
have no choice but for the corporations. Primitive accumulation results from MASSIVELY
unchecked corporate economic expansion and it causes many people to either become wage
laborers or leave their homelands, leading to a virtually inexhaustible immigrant labor reserve for
the global economy.
In addition to that as well, the implementation of free trade agreements and neoliberal policies
further fosters the rapid expansion of corporate economies and leads to new labor supply systems
that replace previous direct colonial and racial caste controls over labor worldwide. I also can’t
forget to mention that Global capitalism’s HEAVY reliance on a rapidly expanding reserve army
of immigrant labor is becoming more apparent due to the rising transnational capitalist class and
the deepening of globally integrated systems, which makes it easier for rich and powerful groups
worldwide to control labor markets.
In conclusion, global capitalism creates circuits of vulnerable populations of immigrant labor
through a combination of heinous tactics like state repression, primitive accumulation, and the
implementation of free trade agreements. Our current global capitalist system leads to adeep
reliance on a rapidly expanding reserve army of immigrant labor, which is disenfranchised and
easy to control. This highly exploited and marginalized position of immigrant laborers is what
creates the necessary vulnerable circuits that global capitalism thrives on and produces, leading
to their growing population worldwide.