Humanities and Arts
The shipping container
Hege Leivestad
Hege Leivestad
Stockholm University, Stockholm 106 91, Sweden; Department of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo, Oslo 0316, Norway
Abstract
When the Ever Given became stuck in the Suez Canal, the megaship was carrying 18,300 rectangular, steel boxes on her back. In the weeks and months after the incident, the concealed contents of the shipping containers – stuck in legal limbo – captured global attention. Technologically developed in the years after the Second World War, the standardized shipping container has featured as one of the protagonists of the transformations in international trade. But the container’s logic of concealment and transaction has made ‘the box’ a common figure also in popular culture and social theory. This essay interrogates the shipping container’s multiple repertoires by focussing on containers at work. By tracing how the shipping container moves through the port infrastructure this essay takes us from the Suez Canal towards another central maritime passageway: the Strait of Gibraltar. This essay reflects on the different scales at which the shipping container functions in the port: from heavy materiality to abstracted codes and units of measurement.
Key Questions
What is the significance of the Ever Given incident in the Suez Canal?
The Ever Given incident highlighted the global reliance on shipping containers and the vulnerabilities of international trade. The megaship, carrying 18,300 containers, became stuck in the Suez Canal, drawing attention to the concealed contents of these containers and the legal and logistical challenges they posed while stranded in transit.
How has the shipping container transformed international trade?
The standardized shipping container, developed after the Second World War, revolutionized international trade by enabling efficient, large-scale transportation of goods. Its standardization streamlined logistics, reduced costs, and facilitated the globalization of trade, making it a central protagonist in the transformation of global commerce.
What is the "logic of concealment and transaction" associated with shipping containers?
The "logic of concealment and transaction" refers to the shipping container’s role in hiding its contents while facilitating trade. This duality has made the container a symbol of both globalization and opacity, appearing in popular culture and social theory as a metaphor for hidden systems of exchange and the complexities of modern capitalism.
How does the essay explore the shipping container’s role in port infrastructure?
The essay traces the movement of shipping containers through port infrastructure, using the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar as focal points. It examines the container’s function at different scales, from its heavy materiality as a physical object to its abstracted role as a unit of measurement and a coded entity in global trade networks.
What broader implications does the shipping container have for global trade and culture?
The shipping container is not just a tool of trade but also a cultural and theoretical symbol. Its role in global trade underscores the interconnectedness of economies, while its presence in popular culture and social theory reflects its significance as a metaphor for concealment, transaction, and the hidden mechanisms of globalization.
