EMPIRE LOGISTICS

Mapping the global supply chain (Online platform & organizing initiative)

Empire Logistics was a collaborative research initiative seeking to map, data mine and document the social means of distribution within the international goods movement industry. Initial class projects initiated by EL at Cal Poly, Pitzer College and UC Riverside focused on Mira Loma, a census-designated area with the highest density of warehouses in the United States, where big firms like Wal-Mart and Target house their goods in massive distribution centers before moving them to their retail outlets all over the country. EL seeks to facilitate direct response to immediate social problems through accessible technology; by providing resources for collective and participatory action that bypasses official media channels; and by forging community and solidarity among related struggles.

DATE: 2009-2017
MEDIUM: multimedia
CREDITS: Sheheryar Kaoosji (Warehouse Workers United) Kenneth Rogers (UC-Riverside), Victor Valle (Caly-Poly), Michael W. Wilson (Pitzer College, Art Institute of CA) and the students of Pitzer, UC-Riverside, Art Institute of California and Cal-Poly.