Category Archives: capital accumulation

Arrival

Posted on 5 March 2015 by

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

Pirate Jenny: Labour and capital in Khor Fakkan

Posted on 4 March 2015 by

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 →

Posted in Allan Sekula, capital accumulation, environment, labour, logistics, Middle East, readings, transport, Travels | Leave a comment

Machineries of Joy: Wrestling with the technological sublime

Posted on 2 March 2015 by

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 →

Posted in Allan Sekula, capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, infrastructure, logistics, Middle East, political economy, readings, the sublime, transport, Travels | Leave a comment

A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes: The factory at sea

Posted on 26 February 2015 by

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 →

Posted in Allan Sekula, capital accumulation, labour, literature, Melville, Middle East, political economy, readings, seafaring, shipping conditions, transport, Travels | Leave a comment

Reading Capital 2 on a containership

Posted on 25 February 2015 by

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 →

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, labour, political economy, readings, transport, Travels | Leave a comment

Marsaxlokk-Jabal-Ali: Besotted with the sea

Posted on 21 February 2015 by

6 February 2015 “For a ship is a bit of terra firma cut off from the main; it is a state in itself; and the captain is its king.” (Melville, White-Jacket – did Conrad plagiarise Melville as I often think … Continue reading →

Posted in Allan Sekula, capital accumulation, infrastructure, labour, literature, logistics, Melville, ports, readings, the sea | 2 Comments

Sha’bi cosmopolitanisms

Posted on 14 January 2015 by

There is very little that is original in this post, but I want to put it down anyway, because the affects of this moment are lovely; something that I want to remember when I think about so much that is … Continue reading →

Posted in capital accumulation, labour, Middle East, ports, the sea | 2 Comments