Critical Logistics

Abstract

In contrast to mainstream logistics research, which is based in engineering, operations research, and business management, critical logistics has emerged in the social sciences. Developed in disciplines such as anthropology, human geography, political science, and sociology, critical logistics aims to provide a new perspective on the subject. First, it challenges logistics’ self-depiction as an apparently apolitical science of management, emphasizing politics and power. Second, it seeks to expose the flaws, irrationalities, and externalities of logistical regimes. Third, it considers contestation and struggle within supply chains and logistical networks. Following an introduction to logistics and the emerging critical perspective, this article applies the alternative view of logistics through four lenses: logistics in an urban-regional context, logistics and corridor development, the role of labor in logistics, and the power and politics of logistics. Critical logistics plays a key role in raising societal awareness of the various interests involved in what appears to be merely a technical and organizational system.