Ben Waber reviewed Empty Vessel by Ian Kumekawa
A Fascinating Deep Dive into Shipping, International Law, and the Global Economy
5 stars
Kumekawa doggedly follows the twists and turns in the life of a particular large vessel - its use as worker housing, as a prison, as military housing, and as a financial asset. Importantly Kumekawa uses these instantiations as an entry point to interrogate the legal, economic, and political dimensions of these different uses and international shipping's connective role in enabling rapid flexibility (for better or worse) under the now quickly-disappearing neoliberal regime. For anyone interested in economics or international law this is a must read. Highly recommend