Data centres as logistical facilities

Singapore and the emergence of production topologies

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21189651
AutoresBrett Neilson (0000-0002-6958-9656), Tanya Notley (0000-0002-4353-1130)
Ano2019
Volume13
Fascículo1
Data de publicação2019-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoWork Organisation Labour & Globalisation (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1745-641X • E-ISSN: 1745-6428
EditoraPluto Journals (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.13169/workorgalaboglob.13.1.0015
OpenAlexW2950080521
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas20

Data centres mobilise server-client architectures to disperse and draw in labour from across industries and nations. In doing so, they provide an infrastructural fix for capitalist actors seeking to bypass traditional labour actions, by designing logistical routes around which to redirect production processes. In this article, we build on research that investigates the data centre industry in Singapore to consider how these facilities drive processes of global circulation and establish new kinds of labour relations and processes. We point to limits in conceptualising these relations according to dominant models of the supply chain or the production network. We argue that understanding the client footprint enabled by data centres as a form of territory allows us to approach these facilities as political institutions that influence the operations of power across wide geographical vistas

Business · Economics · Footprint · Geography · Industrial organization · Microeconomics · Political science · Politics · Supply chain · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Engineering · Sharing Economy and Platforms · Water Governance and Infrastructure · Marketing