Return to Bandung Ep. 29 - The Political Economy of Global Shipping
feat. special guest Laleh Khalili!
Episode 29 of the Return to Bandung podcast is out now! Listen below, and read on for more information about my guest and today’s topic:
The Return to Bandung podcast, along with the writing that I publish on culture shock, is a political education project and a labor of love. To support this important work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber today! Paid subscribers get access to the entire culture shock archive, as well as a typewritten physical newsletter in the mail each month :)
About this episode:
In this episode, I’m joined by Laleh Khalili, Professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter and author of Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula (Verso, 2020), to discuss the incredibly important but often-overlooked role of international shipping and logistics in the capitalist-imperialist world system. We discuss how the global shipping industry relates to everything from transnational labor exploitation to environmental devastation to the genocide in Palestine, as well as the power of organized labor in this crucial industry to bring the capitalist system to a grinding halt.
About the show:
Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You can learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website, as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock.
Support Return to Bandung:
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review or rating, and subscribe to the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts! If you’re able, please also consider supporting my work—which encompasses both my writing and this podcast, as well as various other political education projects by signing up as a paid subscriber to my Substack or making a one-off contribution:
Sources and helpful links:
Laleh Khalili — Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula (Verso, 2020)
Deborah Cohen — The Deadly Life of Logistics: Mapping Violence in Global Trade (University of Minnesota Press, 2014)
Johan Mathew — Margins of the Market: Trafficking and Capitalism across the Arabian Sea (University of California Press, 2016)
Jatin Dua — Captured at Sea: Piracy and Protection in the Indian Ocean (University of California Press, 2019)
Laleh Khalili — The Suez Canal Is a Lifeline for Global Capitalism (interview with Jacobin, March 2021)
Peter Cole — Building Worker Power on the Docks (interview with Jacobin, December 2019)
Ashok Kumar — How Yemen’s Houthis Brought Maritime Capitalism to a Halt (Jacobin, May 2025)
Laura Montanari — We Said “We Will Block Everything” and We Did: Inside Italy’s Strike for Gaza (Truthout, September 2025)
Peter Cole — Dockworker strikes in solidarity with Gaza have a long legacy (Waging Nonviolence, October 2025)
Katie Fox-Hodess — Global Solidarity on the Docks (New Labor Forum, January 2022)
Walter Rodney — How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications, 1972)
Social links:
Return to Bandung:
Twitter: twitter.com/returntobandung
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/
Pranay Somayajula:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/p_somayajula
Website: https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/
Substack: https://www.culture-shock.xyz/
Laleh Khalili:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LalehKhalili
This was a really good discussion on Laleh's book.
I am going to read it on Christmas day, when I open my gifts to myself. After I've finished 'Daring To Be Free' by Sudhir Hazareesingh. ✊🏽