Category Archives: labour

Factory Ships

Posted on 23 April 2014 by Laleh Khalili

Stories about enslaved fishermen on factory ships occasionally appear on BBC and other news sources.   A recent one tells us about the interdiction of one such ship by Thai police, which then lets the ship go.  Apparently Thai fishing … Continue reading →

Posted in labour, literature, political economy, shipping conditions, ships, the sea | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Sailing on dhows and working in the auto industry

Posted on 15 April 2014 by Laleh Khalili

  A facebook friend sent me a URL to a blogpost which introduced Sons of Sinbad by Alan Villiers…  What struck me was the contention that the book was “probably the only work of western travel literature that focuses on the seafarers of … Continue reading →

Posted in finance and insurance, labour, Middle East, political economy, readings, seafaring, shipping conditions, ships, the sea, transport | Leave a comment

London comes closer to the sea

Posted on 26 March 2014 by Laleh Khalili

Dubai Ports World runs London Gateway which will be competing against Felixstowe and Southampton to be the top container port in the UK.  Like many other DPW concerns, there seems to be an iron (or ham-) fisted determination to not let workers unionise – although … Continue reading →

Posted in capital accumulation, infrastructure, labour, logistics, political economy, ports, shipping conditions, ships, transport | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Interconnections

Posted on 26 March 2014 by Laleh Khalili

Dead Water by Simon Ings is the most fabulously dystopian novel about shipping, containers, ships, airships, tsunami, shipping, and dastardly deed that can happen when vast numbers of ships are circumnavigating the globes with vast numbers of containers on board.  One … Continue reading →

Posted in capital accumulation, infrastructure, labour, literature, logistics, political economy, readings, ships, transport | Tagged | Leave a comment

The prose and poetry of toiling in/on the seas

Posted on 20 March 2014 by Laleh Khalili

I am ashamed to admit that I was a latecomer to the magic of Allan Sekula. Far too much of a latecomer.  I discovered his stunning work on shipping and transport, last year; he died in August last year. His amazing … Continue reading →

Posted in Allan Sekula, capital accumulation, labour, ports, readings, ships, the arts, the sea, the sublime, transport | Tagged , | Leave a comment