Source: Marcus Lyon

This May, The Dissonance of Things switches out British accents for those of the vaguely North American variety, as I serve as host for our sixth podcast on the topic of logistics and its role in the making of military, capitalist, and imperial relations. I’m joined by our very own Laleh Khalili of the School of Oriental and African Studies, and the wonderful Deborah Cowen of the University of Toronto. Together, we take a look at the increasing ubiquity and prominence of logistics as a mode for organizing social and spatial life. We discuss how this seemingly banal concern with the movement of goods is actually foundational to contemporary global capitalism and imperialism, reshaping patterns of inequality, undermining labor power, and transforming strategies of governance. We also ask: what might a counter-logistical project look like? What role does logistics play in anti-colonial and anti-capitalist struggles across the globe?

Listen via iTunes or through the Soundcloud player below.

As always, listen, enjoy, argue, share, and leave us your thoughts below the line. You can also follow our past and future casts on soundcloud.

 

Further reading:

– Deborah Cowen’s The Deadly Life of Logistics

– Laleh’s blog on maritime logistics, The Gamming

– Charmaine on logistical chokepoints and her dispatches from a container ship

– Anja Kanngieser, Tracking and Tracing: Geographies of Logistical Governance and Labouring Bodies

– Shiri Pasternak, Thoughts on Idle No More and Critical Infrastructure

– Beth Gutelius, Disarticulating distribution: Labor segmentation and subcontracting in global logistics

Jasper Bernes, Logistics, Counterlogistics, And the Communist Prospect

– Black Lives Matter Toronto’s Tent City Occupation