The logics and politics of circulation: exploring the urban and non-urban spaces of Amazon.com

Hesse, Markus

Contribution to collective works (Parts of books)

Hesse, Markus

2018 • In Ward, Kevin; Jonas, Andrew E.G.; Miller, Byron et al. (Eds.) The Routledge International Handbook on Spaces of Urban Politics

Peer reviewed

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Keywords :

Digital economy; Logistics; Distribution centres; Amazon.com; Circulation; ICT

Abstract :

[en] The digital economy is a catalyst for the circulation of people, goods and information, affecting both urban and non-urban realms. This chapter uses the empirical case of Amazon.com to discuss the digital and physical arrangement of production, labour, distribution, advertising, purchasing, and consumption as a means of creating particular spaces of politics. What started as mail order retail for books about 20 years ago can now be understood as an all-encompassing platform for performing a variety of socio-economic practices. These practices evolve from disruptive innovation and are backed by venture capital as well as an aggressive market strategy, leading to a compartmentalized organisation of value chains. The related implications on place, space and territory reveal a certain “logics of dislocation” (Barnes 1996), creating particular spaces of circulation both in urban centres and peripheries. The abstract system’s imperative not only steers the orchestration of the firm’s network but also, given its hegemony in online-markets, threatens to assume an almost totalitarian form. It thus also performs as a powerful agent of policy-making. Against this background, the chapter explores the spaces of circulation and related politics that are produced and reproduced by Amazon.com.

Disciplines :

Human geography & demography

Author, co-author :

Hesse, Markus ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Language and Literature, Humanities, Arts and Education (FLSHASE) > Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces (IPSE)

External co-authors :

Language :

English

Title :

The logics and politics of circulation: exploring the urban and non-urban spaces of Amazon.com

Publication date :

April 2018

Main work title :

The Routledge International Handbook on Spaces of Urban Politics

Editor :

Ward, Kevin

Jonas, Andrew E.G.

Miller, Byron

Wilson, David

Publisher :

Routledge, Abingdon, OX, United Kingdom

Edition :

Routledge International Handbooks

ISBN/EAN :

9781138890329

Pages :

404-415

Peer reviewed :

Peer reviewed

Available on ORBilu :

since 03 December 2018

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