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Author Archives: Laleh Khalili
Pirate Jenny: Labour and capital in Khor Fakkan
14 February 2015 in Khor Fakkan port After several hours of watching the unloading of the ship, and after walking on the port to go to the duty-free shop (to buy a new memory card for my camera), it is … Continue reading
Fouq El-Nakhl: Masaculinities aboard the ship
“and in everything imposingly beautiful, strength has much to do with the magic.” Herman Melville, Moby Dick The first incident of its kind happened last night. Hopefully, also the last. I was in the wheelroom in the dark, keeping easy … Continue reading
Posted in 2015 Trip, infrastructure, labour, Middle East, political economy, ports, seafaring, shipping conditions, transport
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Anyone’s Ghost: Fishing grounds of the Arabian Sea
12 February 2015 Morning We passed Salalah in the night, and the sea is not as lonely as it was yesterday, with the AIS showing at least 5 or 6 ships at a time (when it was sometimes entirely bereft … Continue reading
Posted in 2015 Trip, environment, labour, Middle East, Travels
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Machineries of Joy: Wrestling with the technological sublime
This one is for my friends Rachel Shabi and Waleed Hazbun, who might recognise something of the pathos of our common paternal utopias in it… 11 February 2015 “Hyperbole is the main stock in trade of publicists, boosters and even … Continue reading
About Today: Steaming the security seas
10 February 2015 Everything anticipated our entry into what I can only call security seas. There are ships that do not send signals: they turn out to be warships of a sort, small, compact, going only at 7 knots with … Continue reading
A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes: The factory at sea
9 February 2015 20.00 “Going forward and glancing over the weather bow, [… the] prospect was unlimited, but exceedingly monotonous and forbidding; not the slightest variety that I could see.” Herman Melville, Moby Dick For the next few days, we … Continue reading
Reading Capital 2 on a containership
8 February 2015 You begin to realise how much Marx actually crafted his writing when you compare Capital I to Capital II. The former is beautifully edited, funny, extensively footnoted, erudite, and with a gorgeous narrative structure that inexorably push … Continue reading
Shim El-Yasmine: Suez Canal
8 February 2015 “the great current of human inclination is to enjoyment.” Karl Marx, Capital Vol. II I want to be more jaded. After all, my nautical venture is an all-expenses-paid research trip – the best of both worlds: doing … Continue reading
Posted in 2015 Trip, Allan Sekula, Middle East, militaries, readings, transport, Travels
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Une Année Sans Lumiere: Encounters before Suez Canal
7 February 2015 15.00 Last night I was invited by the Filipino crew members to one of the crew members’ birthday party. He is an engine -fitter and he will be turning 40 tomorrow. The crew recreation room unsurprisingly had … Continue reading
Posted in 2015 Trip, labour, Middle East, militaries, the sea, Travels
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Peace Frog: Conquest by infrastructure
6 February 2015 I have to admit that I prefer Braudel’s longue durée over his histoire événtmentielle: Perhaps his influence runs through all the great historical accounts written since 1949, where explanations and theoretical framings are comfortably married to historiographic … Continue reading
Posted in 2015 Trip, infrastructure, logistics, militaries, readings, war
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