Laleh Khalili on Sovereignty and Seafarers

Worker exploitation and environmental degradation are both rife and invisible in the shipping networks on which global capitalism depends, explains professor and author Laleh Khalili in this bonus interview from Planet B: Everything Must Change.

The writer of Sinews of War and Trade, an investigation into the secretive world of maritime trade, tells Harpreet Kaur Paul how notions of sovereignty and territory come unstuck at sea, leaving workers and ecosystems at risk.

Khalili also explains why seafarers were among the worst hit by the pandemic and why the grounding of the container ship Evergiven shone a light on the brutal working conditions associated with maritime transport.

An extract from this interview appears in Planet B: Water, the fourth episode of a podcast series made in partnership with Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung London.

Produced by Freddie Stuart.
Music and sound by Ben Heyderman.
Illustrations by Tomekah George.
Design by Pietro Garrone.