Workshop in Bielefeld (Germany), 12 to 14 September 2024
Containerisation began in the 1960s and massively reshaped the global flow of goods since the 1980s. While there is a plethora of economically oriented research on containerisation, much less is known about the people who un/load, process and move containers. Containerisation not only deeply affected dock work but was also accompanied by intermodal transport, the globalised movement of standardized containers between different transport modules. Moreover, containerisation had tremendous repercussions on port security. Thus, dock work, security and intermodal transport are the three integral fields studied at the workshop, which will geographically focus on North America, Europe, and Asia.
Containerisation and Dock Labour since the 1960s: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Work, Security, and Intermodal Transport in an Uncertain Setting
The main aim of the interdisciplinary workshop is to reformulate established and to elaborate new and innovative interpretations of containerised dock labour which are historically informed, socially rooted and culturally sensitive. The approach of the workshop is open to bottom-up perspectives and follows an understanding of globalisation which includes trans-local connections and entanglements. First steps towards employing relational micro-perspectives on containerised dock labour should also be made. A general aim is not only to foster a focused exchange of international scholars from several disciplines but also to initiate mutual learning.
Three main questions and their changes over time will be discussed in all panels:
- First, how has containerisation affected the three sectors (work, security, intermodal transport) of integrated dock labour and vice versa? Particular attention will be paid to the transitional phase from traditional to containerised dock labour.
- Second, what kind of (collective) actions were taken by dock workers in containerised settings, which self-perceptions of and public narratives about dock work(ers) can we find?
- Third, what can be gained analytically from seeing the multiple uncertainties of integrated relational dock work and containerisation not only as threats but also as opportunities for change and innovation?
Programm
Containerisation and Dock Labour since the 1960s: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Work, Security, and Intermodal Transport in an Uncertain Setting
(September 12-14, 2024, Bielefeld, ZiF)
Thursday, September 12
13.00-14.00 Registration and Snacks
14.00-14.30 Welcome / Aims of the Workshop
14.30- 18.00 Keynotes
Chair: Klaus Weinhauer (Bielefeld, D)
14.30-15.15Marcel van der Linden (Amsterdam, NL): Dock Labour and Global Labour History
15.15-15.45 Tea / Coffee
15.45-16.30 Hege Hoyer Leivestad (Oslo, NO): Containerization and Dock Labour: What can anthropology bring to the table?
16.30-18.00Discussion
18.30 Dinner at ZiF
Friday, September 13
09.00- 11.00 Panel 1, Dock Labour in Europe and in the USA
Comment / Chair: Lex Heerma van Voss (Amsterdam, NL)
Peter Turnbull (Bristol, UK): Europe
Peter Cole (Macomb, USA): US-Westcoast
11.00-11.30Tea / Coffee
11.30-13.30 Panel 1 continued: Dock Labour in Asia
Comment / Chair: Lex Heerma van Voss (Amsterdam, NL)
Rahul Maganti (Göttingen, D): Bombay
Laura Yan (Cambridge, UK): Singapore
Greig Taylor (Dubai, UAE): Vietnam
13.30-14.30Lunch
14.30-16:30 Panel 2: Container Logistics and Social-Political Responses: Practices of Comparing in a Logistics Revolution
Comment / Chair: Birte Förster (Bielefeld, D)
Chris King-Chi Chan (London, UK): (Hong-Kong): Social Movements and Port Development
Jesse Halvorsen (Los Angeles, USA): US-West Coast: Intermodal Transport
16.30-17.00Tea / Coffee
19:00 Dinner
Saturday, September 14
9.00-11.00 Panel 3: Ports in Times of Uncertainty
Comment / Chair: Silke Schwandt (Bielefeld, D)
Giorgos Poulimenakos (Oslo, NO): Port of Piraeus: The local and the global
Marcus Boeick (Cambridge, UK): Security in Ports
11.00-11.30 Tea / Coffee
11.30-12:30 Final debate and closing
Interested colleagues please register until August 20, 2024 at:
zif-conference-office@uni-bielefeld.de
Ms. Taugheda Helterhof
https://www.uni-bielefeld.de/einrichtungen/zif/events/#/event/7404