Center for the Humanities: 50th Anniversary (1969-2019)
Monday Night Lecture Series | Fall 2019

Beyond the Box: The Politics and Aesthetics of Flow in the Logistics Revolution

Susan Zieger • University of California, Riverside

September 16 @ 6 P.M.
Daniel Family Commons, Usdan University Center

Logistics, the art and science of getting goods, services, and information to the right place at the right time to maximize profit, has profoundly altered contemporary life in the global north. Historians call this a revolution, and link it to the adoption of the shipping container, or as one popular book puts it, “the box.” Drawing on critical studies of logistics that have emerged across fields such as geography, anthropology, and sociology, this talk delves into logistics’ central concept and aesthetic: flow. As material and metaphor, concept and practice, flow is a powerful mobile form that challenges traditional epistemologies and practices of social change.

All lectures begin at 6 p.m. and are held in the Daniel Family Commons (located in the Usdan University Center) unless otherwise noted.

Revolutions: Material Forms, Mobile Futures
View Fall 2019 Lecture List