Category Archives: seafaring

Interview with Jadaliyya’s New Text Out Now

Posted on 14 May 2020 by

  Laleh Khalili, Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula (Verso, 2020). Jadaliyya (J): What made you write this book? Laleh Khalili (LK): Towards the end of 2011, I had just finished the manuscript for Time in the Shadows, research … Continue reading →

Posted in capital accumulation, construction, logistics, Middle East, militaries, political economy, seafaring, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Interstitial Podcast

Posted on 13 May 2020 by

I spoke with the brilliant David Huber of the Interstitial podcast, which you can listen to here: https://thinkbelt.org/shows/interstitial/sinews-of-war-and-trade-laleh-khalili He asked me to suggest 4 books and I had to think on my feet, so of course I suggested the following: … Continue reading →

Posted in capital accumulation, empire, imperialism & colonialism, labour, literature, Middle East, political economy, ports, seafaring, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Abandoned Seafarers

Posted on 1 May 2020 by

Abandoned at Sea: Sailors and COVID-19   The stranded Indian crew members on board MSC Grandiosa, docked in Italy at present (Al Jazeera) On the list of COVID-19 afflicted countries tallied by the Johns Hopkins University Corona Resource Centre there … Continue reading →

Posted in labour, logistics, political economy, ports, seafaring, shipping conditions, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The poetry of medieval maritime travel

Posted on 13 September 2017 by

I have been reading Arab navigation manuals and travelogues, and there is such poetry in the navigation manuals in particular. It is the liminality of the navigation texts in particular – between art and science, familiar and wholly other.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East, seafaring, the sea, Travels, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Medieval Arab Naviation

Posted on 11 September 2017 by

“More interesting is the testimony of Ibn al-Mujawir who reports that in 626 A.H./1228-9 A.D. a ship arrived in Aden from Qumr (Comoros or Madagascar); the art of navigation of the people of Qumr impressed him as superior to that … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East, ports, seafaring, the sea, Travels, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Fouq El-Nakhl: Masaculinities aboard the ship

Posted on 3 March 2015 by

“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 infrastructure, labour, Middle East, political economy, ports, seafaring, shipping conditions, transport | 1 Comment

About Today: Steaming the security seas

Posted on 1 March 2015 by

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 →

Posted in empire, imperialism & colonialism, militaries, piracy, seafaring, transport, Travels, war | Leave a comment