Ocean Imperatives: conceptualizing maritime infrastructure for the study of maritime connectivity

Description

How did Southeast Asia transform from a hub of regional coastal networks into a trans-regional interdependent port ecosystem by the early modern period? To answer this question, which is crucial to understanding the historical developments of polities along the Indo-Pacific region, this presentation
proposes to examine the synergetic nature of shipping logistics and infrastructure in order to push current boundaries that place the focus on trade goods.Maritime networks conform an interdependent ecosystem
where every piece must interlock to the others like a well-oiled machine. The environment determines when ports are accessible, the depth of ports determines the size and number of ships that can be serviced, and
the size of ships determines the requirements of wharf storage facilities and stevedore crews. All this requires specialized skills and intellectual ingenuity that develops around navigation, stevedoring, and the construction of infrastructures to overcome environmental hurdles.
Using an interdisciplinary approach that draws on environmental, archaeological, iconographic, ethnographic, and historical data, this presentation will explore shipping logistics and infrastructure as a novel source material to advance a new research framework that incorporates methods rooted in geographically oriented landscape perspectives, such as the Maritime Cultural Landscape, Historical Ecology, and Human Ecodynamics. This additional turn of the screw offers an innovative understanding of the role of maritime networks in the history of the region by looking at the past from the water, and seeking out the ocean imperatives that shaped how people moved seamlessly through oceans, seas, and rivers.

Period	22 Apr 2022
Event title	Nordic TAG
Event type	Conference
Location	Oslo, NorwayShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International