We study the experiences of Pakistani blue-collar men workers in the GCC countries under the kafala system. To attend to the question of who and what matters, we consider the conditions of work in this south-south migration context and how this alters the worker’s subjectivities. Further, with a special focus on migrant masculinities, we ask what role does gender play in the context of precarious migration with strong familial ties in the home country. We employ Joseph’s (1999) theory of patriarchal connectivity which situates the self nonlinearly in relation to others in collectivist cultures rather than as individuals seeking to enhance their own autonomy. In doing so we restore the worker’s humanity by presenting him in the fullest sense possible and show that between exploitative working conditions and the extortionist role of the employer’s agent in the host country and strong relational ties in the host country and back home, migrant masculinities are complex and fluid.
