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Author: krhead

China 1999: Chang Sheng Hijacking Trial

A court in Shanwei put 38 suspects on trial for the November 1998 hijacking of the Chang Sheng. The pirates posed as anti-smuggling police, boarded the Chang Sheng, and killed 23 crew members by clubbing them to death. They faced charges of murder, robbery, possession of firearms, and possession of drugs. Thirteen men were sentenced […]

Xingu River Basin

The Xingu River, one of the primary tributaries of the Amazon, flows nearly 1,640 kilometers through central Brazil prior to joining the Amazon River. This river is extremely important because not only is it one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon Basin, but many native communities rely on its resources as well. Over […]

Oil Rigs in the North Sea

The North Sea, surrounded by the coasts of the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands, has long been one of the most industrialized marine regions in the world. Since the discovery of oil in the late 1960s, this cold, stormy sea has become home to hundreds of offshore drilling platforms. These towering rigs represent […]

The Life of Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny, born around 1698 near Cork, Ireland, was an Irish-American pirate whose brief period of marauding the Caribbean during the 18th century enshrined her in legend as one of the few women to have defied the proscription against female pirates. However, much of what we know about Anne is written in the volume A […]

Counter-Mapping Shipping: Digital Joy and Digital Labor in Oceanic Social Media

 

The Oceans Lab, an interdisciplinary research and advocacy initiative, explores maritime issues across oceanic spaces. With a focus on themes of race, labor, inequality, climate change, migration, and geopolitics, the Lab seeks to unravel the complexities of our oceans, making them comprehensible through innovative approaches. One such approach is the creation of this map that aims to help bridge gaps between how scholars describe oceanic spaces and the voices of those that inhabit them.

Inspired by global maritime shipping maps like marinetraffic.com, the Oceans Lab’s map is not just about tracing the trajectories of cargo ships; it is about weaving together interdisciplinary oceanic scholarship with the voices of those who inhabit the seas. It seeks to represent the various voices and ideas that converge to define the concept(s) of the ocean(s) from what may initially appear to be blank cartographic space. In the spirit of counter-mapping, we invite creators, scholars, and seafarers to use our submit button in order to actively participate in redefining how we perceive and understand oceanic spaces.

Counter-mapping, at its core, seeks to provide alternative perspectives and representations that challenge dominant power structures and dominant narratives (Peluso 1995). This ever-evolving map thus recognizes that the ocean is not just a backdrop for the global commerce represented on standard shipping maps, but a vibrant and dynamic space shaped by human experiences.

In addition to showcasing the multifaceted nature of oceanic life, the map brings to the fore the concept of digital labor and attention economies. In the digital age, content creation and the curation of online personas have become forms of labor, often underestimated and overlooked. Those at sea who engage in social media share not only their experiences participating in the shipping economy, but also contribute to the attention economy. In addition to including these digital contributions in scholarly conversations, the map hopes to open up questions about this digital labor, underscoring the importance of recognizing it within the broader context of oceanic scholarship.




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About the Map

Do you want to add something to our Oceans Map?

Send us your name, a short essay, a short story, a photo, a video, or a link to a social media post related to the sea or maritime issues (TikToks at sea are welcome, as are research essays!). We aim to fill our map with “stories from the sea” of all kinds.