Paper short abstract:

This paper traces the different tools of legibility that are meant to produce global visibility in supply networks. It thus discusses the reconfigurations of logistics and the infrastructures of state borders in a time of circulatory capitalism

Paper long abstract:

State bordering technologies lie at the core of contemporary circulatory capitalism. As modern logistics allows for dissecting production facilities globally, price differences on different markets can be mobilised and turned into profit. This process has radically reconfigured the role of today's state border. A border nowadays must function as a productive threshold that turns movement into value. However, this reconfigured border remains at the same time the proto-sovereign space of state order. Customs and border police are mandated to monitor and interrupt illegitimate border crossings and unauthorised access into the circuits of (inter)national trade. This is a delicate project as opening and verifying consignments represents a laborious task that disturbs the rhythm, pace, and velocity of global supply. In short, control practices become itself a threat to the logic of circulation and arbitrage. To protect seamless and secure international cargo circulation, technology bundles such as container scanners, international security protocols and data centres are used to improve end-to-end visibility in complex supply networks. Building on different strands of literature, including science and technology studies, governmentality studies and critical logistics and infrastructure research, the proposed paper will discuss preliminary findings of ongoing ethnographic field inquiries, from West African seaports to free zones across the European Union.