ABSTRACT
Undoubtedly the most important form of institutionalized relationship between Kuwaitis and expatriates was that of employer—employee. By the 1980s, the kafala was a general and absolute requirement: each and every foreigner in Kuwait who originated from a country outside the Gulf Cooperation Council states had to be under the sponsorship either of a private citizen or a private or state institution. The chapter presents the point of view of the onlooker through a description of the working of the sponsorship system. The structure of dominance in Kuwait rested on the convergence of several factors that were primarily anchored in material circumstances: the conditions in the international labor market, the migratory pressures in the labor-sending countries, and the organization of labor relations in Kuwait. The expatriates’ submission to the Kuwaitis’ dominance and their politics of exclusion arose from decisions reached within a context of opportunities and constraints and in the light of carefully weighed priorities.
