The labor issue has been brewing for a long time. Long before any student stepped foot on NYU Abu Dhabi’s Downtown Campus, long before the first full-time faculty members were hired, back when NYU initially announced its development of a campus here in the UAE, concerns were raised — in the media but also from within NYU.

Indeed, questions about labor in a non-U.S. environment are reflective of broader ideas of a U.S. university education in a non-U.S. environment: Will the building of the campus and the values laden within this process be reflective of U.S. or Emirati values?

The conversation on labor has continued from within the university among students, staff and faculty as the new campus has gradually been shaped on Saadiyat island. We are perpetually raising questions and concerns about the fair treatment of workers, ethical labor standards and systems of migrant labor in general.

Varying perspectives are bound to arise in a university comprised of people from such diverse origins. We all operate within different frameworks governing our perceptions of human rights and of what individuals deserve. Universal values are hardly universal. Labor exists in all of our home countries. Whether it is in the form of a maid, a construction worker or a CEO, each of us has experienced labor. Thinking about labor requires a holistic understanding of this global and complex phenomenon. In this issue we try to reflect the nuance of the conversation happening in our dorms, classes and offices — conversations that are necessary to understand the scope of labour in the UAE and the world and necessary to properly understand each other.

Our aim in this issue is not to spell out clear answers or explanations of what constitutes the migrant labor experience. Our goal is not to be apologetic in the face of criticism nor to defend any action or policy of the university. We are instead hoping to add to the continuing discourse, to complicate surface-level narratives that have been created and to provide different ways to regard issues of labor — at NYU, in the Gulf and beyond.