The Apatride Society of the Political Others invites you to an evening of talks and discussions with Sandro Mezzadra and Brett Neilson about the impact of financial capitalism and logistics within the movement of goods and human bodies in the Mediterranean. After years of research on the proliferation of borders as a characteristic of contemporary global capitalism, Mezzadra and Neilson currently focus on the ongoing transformation of Piraeus Port after a concession agreement with the Chinese state-owned company COSCO. At Parko Eleftherias, in dialogue with Pavlos Hatzopoulos, they will explore the concept of a new mobility paradigm enabled by the so-called logistics revolution of the 1960s and epitomized by the port as a crucial site of neocolonial production, as well as the image of containers as crucial units of contemporary global movements of capital and labor.
7–9 pm
Logistics, Extraction, and Finance in Contemporary Capitalism
Sandro Mezzadra and Brett Neilson discuss their forthcoming book The Politics of Operations.
9–10:30 pm
Bodies, Machines, Infrastructures: The Port of Piraeus After the COSCO Concession
Discussion
With Sandro Mezzadra, Brett Neilson, and Pavlos Hatzopoulos
During the debate there will also be a presentation of the video game Cargonauts, created by Anna Lascari and Ilias Marmaras as part of the “Logistical Worlds Project”.
Cargonauts, Creative Commons Licence 4.0, 2015
Sandro Mezzadra teaches Political Theory at the University of Bologna and is one of the founders of the website “EuroNomade”. His widely recognized research specializes on the critique of border management, migration, the postcolonial condition, and the transformation of society within contemporary capitalism. Mezzadra lives and works in Rome.
Brett Neilson is a professor at the Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University. His extensive research and writing aims to provide alternative ways of conceiving globalization, with particular emphasis upon its social and cultural dimensions. He is currently working on the Australian Research Council’s project “Logistics as Global Governance: Labor, Software, and Infrastructure Along the New Silk Road,” with partner researchers from Greece, India, Chile, Italy, Canada, and the UK. Neilson is based in Sydney.
Mezzadra and Neilson started an intensive exchange and collaboration in 2002, which resulted in several joint projects and writings, including Border as Method, or, the Multiplication of Labor (2013).
Pavlos Hatzopoulos is affiliated to Panteion University, working on the digitalization of labor and migration. He is part of the international project “Logistical Worlds. Infrastructure, Software, Labour,” conducting research on Chinese investments around Piraeus Port, and focusing on the optimization of production, labor relations, and technologies of governance. Hatzopoulos is based in Athens.
