Author Archives: Laleh Khalili

Pop Containerization

So, not long ago, a graffiti artist, JR Artist, who flyposted a whole bunch of CMA CGM containers so that CMA CGM Magellan looked like this (at least until the next port where the containers had to be unloaded; I … Continue reading

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Comparing Experiences

Charmaine Chua and I both took containerships roughly at the same time.  She was much more involved: her trip took longer, on a different route, and she worked onboard.  We talk about our experiences over at the Disorder of Things … Continue reading

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The unbearable deaths of thousands in the deep

And yet these unbearable deaths are borne by those who turn away.  As I am left mute with horror, I shall post these poems which I think speak to the deaths of so many in this watery graveyard: from Salt By … Continue reading

Posted in empire, literature, shipping conditions, the sea | Leave a comment

Silt

Silt Stephen Burt Things you know but can’t say, the sort of things, or propositions that build up week after week at the end of the day, & have to be dredged by the practical operators so that their grosser … Continue reading

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Somali Piracy

This really is the best journalism about Somali piracy I have read.  It is immensely sympathetic to the ordinary crewmen, many often belonging to the global South, who are the victims of the piracy.  But it also shows the extent to … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, labour, Middle East, piracy, political economy, shipping conditions | Leave a comment

Container Spotting

Here is an account of an interesting obsession with containers…  I wonder what Allan Sekula would have made of this love of the technological sublime: http://www.ediblegeography.com/container-spotting/ There are still many unanswered mysteries that the duo hopes to get to the bottom of … Continue reading

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Playing with trains in the sand: reflections on the MENA Cargo show

GUEST POST BY R.Z. Having spent the last couple of years researching Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs), attending their industry gatherings and military expos, I was very excited to shift gears to a new project and curious what differences … Continue reading

Posted in capital accumulation, finance and insurance, infrastructure, logistics, Middle East, militaries, political economy | Leave a comment

Sinews of War and Trade

And here is my inaugural address on the Sinews of War and Trade (it might look like it is Gilbert Achcar, but it is actually my video!):

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On how internet infrastructures follow marine transport

Leopold Lambert’s brilliant blog has a new entry about the submarine internet structure. It is well worth a careful peruse, especially because of its brilliant maps. It also contains loads of fascinating insight: A particularity of this [submarine cable] network … Continue reading

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Arrival

15 February 2015 16.00 We have arrived too soon, because of steaming at high speed through the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, in order for the ship to make it to Ningbo for an earlier … Continue reading

Posted in 2015 Trip, capital accumulation, infrastructure, labour, logistics, Middle East, political economy, ports, transport, Travels | Leave a comment