Aboard Cargo Ships: The Life and Labour of Logistics Workers

What do we know of the lives of logistics workers? What is life like aboard a container ship on the seas? The body of the logistics worker was presented as the fulcrum upon which global systems of power and trade rest. However, it is also a body subjected to gendered and racialized pressures. In this masterclass, Laleh Khalili drew on her ongoing research and experiences of traveling on cargo ships to explore the lives of these laborers. Participants investigated an experience marked by adversities—loneliness, loss, violence, stolen wages, and exploitative logistics businesses—along with fleeting moments of joy and solidarity.

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About the Scholar

Laleh Khalili is a professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and the author or editor of 6 books including most recently Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula (Verso 2020) and The Corporeal Life of Seafaring (Mack Books 2024).