Project description
Privatisation of ports and consequential conflicts
Global freight is carried over the waves. The oceans are the main transport arteries accounting for around 90 % of all traded goods. While opportunities are many, so are the challenges. The EU-funded ContestedPort project will study the emerging phenomenon of socio-spatial conflicts arising in port cities. For instance, the expansion of increasingly privatised and corporatised port infrastructure is creating a clash of interests between multi-scalar markets and globalised value chains on the one hand, and inhabitants of the port hinterland on the other. The making of global ports is transformed into an urgent societal issue, which demands a social scientific approach. The project will focus on new socio-spatial tensions in the inhabited fringes surrounding harbours.
Objective
Many contemporary ports are threatening the very communities that previously nurtured them. This research proposal tackles the emerging phenomenon of socio-spatial conflicts arising in port cities, and argues for a new critical approach that centres the experiences and responses of those contesting the making of global ports.
Over 90% of the world’s trade is carried by sea, with forecasts for further growth. The expansion of increasingly privatised and corporatised port infrastructure is creating a clash of interests between multi-scalar markets and globalised value chains on the one hand, and inhabitants of the port hinterland on the other. The making of global ports is thus transformed into an urgent societal issue, which demands a social scientific approach that acknowledges the interconnected nature of localised conflicts.
Ports are not just global trade hubs, but are indispensable cogs in the complex and sometimes “predatory” machinery of the global supply chain. Increasing demand for space and water as well as greater air, soil, sonic and water pollution are only some of the reasons for the social contestations that manifest. This holds new theoretical and practical implications for social sciences, fundamental for conceiving resilient and inclusive futures for port cities away from economic disciplinary perspectives.
By focusing on the new socio-spatial tensions in the inhabited fringes surrounding harbours, I expect to reveal logistics-driven mechanisms of rupture that impact people and places in the making of global ports. I will analyse two specific paradigmatic cases – Piraeus and Valencia – using ethnographic methods to understand the specific local contexts impacted by this globalised infrastructure. This project also entails the development of an online platform that maps and documents cases of contestation at the port, enabling the establishment of a “connective geography” that opens new channels of communication between port communities.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology civil engineering transportation engineering port and harbor engineering
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
- social sciences
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2628 CN Delft
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.