Overview
Shipping, ports and trade are essential to humanity. Oceans, seas and rivers cover more than two-thirds of the Earth's surface. Since ancient times, people transported their goods across the water in rafts, canoes and sailboats. Now we sail across the oceans with container ships, bulk carriers and tankers. Indeed, ninety percent of world trade moves from port to port by ship. Ports are the hubs of the global society. But ports and world trade are easily disrupted: a shipping accident in the Suez Canal, the COVID-19 pandemic, wars, climate change, geopolitical tensions. What happens in world ports? How did they originate? How have they developed? How did China's ports expand so dramatically? Can ports continue to grow indefinitely? What are they doing about climate change and energy transition? What will the maritime world look like in the future? These are questions that Aafke Steenhuis and Jan Joost Teunissen asked over the past ten years as they traveled to strategic and colorful ports in the world, speaking with port experts, economists, writers and sociologists, and uncovering the facinating ecosystem of ports including Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai, Dubai, Alexandria, Cape Town, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Marseille, Genoa, Los Angeles and Santos.
Full Product Details
Author: Aafke Steenhuis ,
Jan Joost Teunissen
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN: 9798765165966
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 20 August 2026
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Availability: In Print
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.
Reviews
A thought-provoking journey through the world’s port cities—where trade, culture, and climate converge. From the bustling docks of Shanghai to the historic harbors of Rotterdam, Steenhuis and Teunissen blend art and insight to highlight the fragility of our planet and inevitability of global maritime trade. * Ashok Pandey, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, USA * “As founder and director of the Forum on Debt and Development, Jan Joost Teunissen has inspired economists worldwide to rethink reigning policy frameworks to better tackle the major economic challenges of our time. He has partnered up with Dutch writer and artist Aafke Steenhuis to write this original and engaging study of the crucial role of ports and maritime transport in global society. This is a rare masterpiece. “ * Wing Thye Woo, University of California Davis, USA * “This is a powerful testimony to international trade and globalization. Aafke Steenhuis and Jan Joost Teunissen offer an insightful portrait of landmark ports around the world and provide a critical commentary on social, economic, political and cultural factors conditioning the rise and decline of globalization and ports.” * Zdenek Drabek, Former Senior Adviser at the World Trade Organization, Czech Republic * “The sea links us as much as land routes. Jan Joost Teunissen’s and Aafke Steenhuis’ book shows how globalization was spread not just through trade, but culture and the power of ideas too. Ports are hubs in the network of human interaction. We are more because they connect us."" * Andrew Sheng, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong *
Author Information
Aafke Steenhuis is an independent writer and painter. From 1974 to 1990 she was the editor for culture and Latin America for the weekly magazine De Groene Amsterdammer. She has published 22 books. Jan Joost Teunissen is founder of FONDAD, an independent economic policy research center and a forum for international discussion, established in the Netherlands. Supported by a worldwide network of experts, it provides policy-oriented research on North-South issues in a globalizing world, in particular international financial issues. He has published more than 25 books.
