Connectivity as the strategization of space – the case of the Port of Hamburg

Abstract

Taking the Port of Hamburg as a site for analysis, this article is used to theorize the idea of connectivity as the strategization of space. Drawing on Foucault's understanding of strategy as an art of combinations, connectivity is explored as a quasi-transcendental, as a site of experimentation and innovation which opens up the possibility for a port's future market development and growth. The argument is drawn out of an analysis of specific practices and strategies currently developed by the Hamburg Port Authority, particularly the operation of Vessel Traffic Service and by exploring some of the historical forms of connectivity and dis-connectivity of the port.

Keywords:

• biopolitics
• circulation
• connectivity
• Foucault
• geopolitics
• globalization
• Hamburg
• ports

Acknowledgements

This article was written during research leave funded by the Research Institute for Social Science at Keele University. I wish to thank Urs Stäheli, Sven Opitz, and Ute Tellmann of Hamburg University who invited me as Visiting Professor during the sabbatical period. I am grateful to Florian Kuhn and Annette Jümann from the Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg, and to Nadine Voelkner for valuable advice on parts of this paper.

Notes

For an example of a disruption in the intersection of the Kiel Canal with the River Elbe, see MAIB, BSU, et al. (2005). ‘Report on the investigation of the collision between Arctic Ocean and Maritime Lady, capsize of Maritime Lady and contact with wreck of Maritime Lady by Sunny Blossom, and its subsequent grounding in the Elbe River’, London, The Marine Accident Investigation Branch, German Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation, Gibraltar Maritime Administration and the Bahamas Maritime Authority.