Guestworker Programs and the Postwar U.S. Liberal Consensus.

Maria L. Quintana's book, "Contracting Freedom: Race, Empire, and U.S. Guestworker Programs," examines temporary labor migration programs in the post-World War II U.S. state and the racialized nature of liberal citizenship. Quintana explores the efforts of New Deal officials and Senators who believed in using the power of the federal government to achieve racial equality and improve working conditions for both native and non-native workers. However, she highlights two major problems with this approach: the difficulty in escaping the racialized logic of liberal citizenship and the reliance on contracts that often led to coercion and exploitation. Quintana's book also compares various guestworker programs, such as the Bracero Program, Japanese internment, and Puerto Rican guestworker programs, to demonstrate the colonialism and coercion inherent in these programs. The book challenges assumptions about the postwar liberal consensus and raises questions about the effectiveness of the U.S. liberal-capitalist state in achieving racial equality. [Extracted from the article]