Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is an insightful, extremely innovative, and much-needed book. In revealing the histories, genealogies, and geographies of our ‘logistical world,’
The Deadly Life of Logistics opens up crucial issues of contemporary politics that are all too often, as Deborah Cowen says, rendered ‘invisible in plain sight’ by their very ubiquity and normality. Blending deep genealogical insight, social and political theory, and topical contemporary case studies, the book’s fusion is tremendously powerful. It is an immense achievement." —Mimi Sheller, Drexel University
"Fascinating, informative and politically engaged."—We Make Money Not Art
"The Deadly Life of Logistics is both an important contribution to understandings of globalization, security, and economy, and an opening to further inquiry on the political and economic geographies of the material movement of goods."—Antipode
"Thought provoking."—Consumption Markets and Culture
"Cowen’s The Deadly Life of Logistics: Mapping Violence in Global Trade is a welcome contribution, clearly showing how something as purely technical as logistics has turned into a phenomenon shaping politics in several different relams, and will surely be a good read for those interested in political geography, critical geopolitics, labor rights, the history of logistics, and international relations."—International Studies Review
"Cowen’s [The Deadly Life of Logistics]provides a much-needed alternative and critical reading of the spatial organization of logistics. It is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the changing nature of economic space in neoliberal economies."—The Canadian Geographer
"Cowen’s work rightfully challenges the dominant discourses that have pervaded the academic debates on logistics."—Cultural Geography
"Cowen generates a comprehensive historic and contemporary critique of the everyday violence associated with global trade."—Human Geography
Table of ContentsContents
Abbreviations
Introduction: The Citizenship of Stuff in the Global Social Factory
1. The Revolution in Logistics: “America’s Last Dark Continent”
2. From National Borders to Global Seams: The Rise of Supply Chain Security
3. The Labor of Logistics: Just-in-Time Jobs
4. The Geo-economics of Piracy: The ‘Somali Pirate’ and the Remaking of International Law
5. Logistics Cities: The “Urban Heart” of Empire
Conclusion: Rough Trade? Sex, Death, and the Queer ‘Nature’ of Circulation
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
