Data centres as logistical facilities: Singapore and the emergence of production topologies

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Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation

Volume 13, Issue 1

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Data centres as logistical facilities: Singapore and the emergence of production topologies

research-article

Author(s): Brett Neilson , Tanya Notley

Publication date (Print): 1 April 2019

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: data centres, logistics, labour, territory, Singapore, supply chains, production networks, revenue farms, extraction, social cooperation

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Abstract

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.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.2307/j50010512

Journal ID (jcode): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN: 1745-641X

ISSN: 1745-6428

Publication date (Print): 1 April 2019

Volume: 13

Issue: 1 ( doiID: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.13.issue-1 )

Pages: 15-29

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.13.1.0015

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.13.1.0015

SO-VID: 8b5b37aa-33d4-498b-bebf-980f63e49e3c

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lang eng

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

Keywords: data centres,social cooperation,extraction,revenue farms,production networks,supply chains,Singapore,territory,labour,logistics

REFERENCES

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Chander, A. & U.P. Le (2015) ‘Data nationalism', Emory Law Journal, 64 (3):677-739.
Chang, J.-H., G. Rynhart & P. Hunyh (2016) ASEAN in Transformation: The Future of Jobs at Risk of Automation, International Labour Organization, July 1. Accessed July 4, 2018 from at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_dialogue/—act_emp/documents/publication/wcms_579554.pdf.
Cheok, J. (2018) ‘Facebook to build S$1.4b data centre in Singapore - its first in Asia', The Business Times, September 7. Accessed November 20, 2018 from https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/startups/facebook-to-build-s14b-data-centre-in-singapore-its-first-in-asia-0.
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Henderson, J., P. Dicken, M. Hess, N. Coe & H.W.-C. Yeung (2002) ‘Global production networks and the analysis of economic development', Review of International Political Economy, 9 (3):436-64.
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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] BroadGroup (2016) Data Center South East Asia: Market Report, London: BroadGroup.

[2] Carey, J.W. (2009) ‘Technology and ideology: The case of the telegraph', in J.W. Carey (ed.), Communication and Culture: Essays on Media and Society, New York: Routledge:201-30.

[3] Chan, D. & T. Shanmugaratnam (2015) 50 Years of Social Issues in Singapore, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing.

[4] Chander, A. & U.P. Le (2015) ‘Data nationalism', Emory Law Journal, 64 (3):677-739.

[5] Chang, J.-H., G. Rynhart & P. Hunyh (2016) ASEAN in Transformation: The Future of Jobs at Risk of Automation, International Labour Organization, July 1. Accessed July 4, 2018 from at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_dialogue/—act_emp/documents/publication/wcms_579554.pdf.

[6] Cheok, J. (2018) ‘Facebook to build S$1.4b data centre in Singapore - its first in Asia', The Business Times, September 7. Accessed November 20, 2018 from https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/startups/facebook-to-build-s14b-data-centre-in-singapore-its-first-in-asia-0.

[7] Easterling, K. (2014) Extrastatecraft: The Power of Infrastructure Space, London: Verso.

[8] Foster, C. & M. Graham (2017) ‘Reconsidering the role of the digital in global production networks', Global Networks, 17 (1):68-88.

[9] Henderson, J., P. Dicken, M. Hess, N. Coe & H.W.-C. Yeung (2002) ‘Global production networks and the analysis of economic development', Review of International Political Economy, 9 (3):436-64.

[10] Huws, U. (2014) Labor in the Global Digital Economy: The Cybertariat Comes of Age, New York: Monthly Review Press.

[11] Larkin, B. (2013) ‘The politics and poetics of infrastructure', Annual Review of Anthropology, 42:327-43.

[12] LeCavalier, J. (2016) The Rule of Logistics: Walmart and the Architecture of Fulfillment, Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press.

[13] Lee, T. (2016) ‘The end of Singapore, Inc.', TechInAsia, February 18. Acccessed July 4, 2018 from https://www.techinasia.com/singapore-inc.

[14] Liu, Y., J.K. Muppala, M. Veeraraghavan, D. Lin & M. Hamidi (2013) Data Center Networks: Topologies, Architectures and Fault-Tolerance Characteristics, Cham: Springer.

[15] Lowe, L. (2015) The Intimacies of Four Continents, Durham: Duke University Press.

[16] Lury, C., L. Parisi & T. Terranova (2012) ‘Introduction: The becoming topological of culture', Theory, Culture & Society, 29 (4/5):3-35.

[17] Marx, K. (1977) Capital, vol. 1, New York: Vintage.

[18] Morosov, E. (2018) ‘Will tech giants move on from the internet, now we've all been harvested', The Guardian, January 28. Accessed July 4, 2018 from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/28/morozov-artificial-intelligence-data-technology-online.

[19] Neilson, B. (2012) ‘Five theses on understanding logistics as power', Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 13 (3):323-40.

[20] Neilson, B. (2018) ‘Precarious in Piraeus: On the making of labour insecurity in a port concession', Globalizations, Published online April 25. doi:10.1080/14747731.2018.1463755.

[21] Posner, E.A. & E.G. Weyl (2018) Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

[22] Sassen, S. (2018) ‘Embedded borderings: Making new geographies of centrality', Territory, Politics, Governance, 6 (1):5-15.

[23] Sedenak Iskandar Data Hub (2018) ‘A safe haven for your data', Sedenak Iskandar Data Hub. Accessed July 4, 2018 from http://sidh.my/.

[24] Selby, J. (2017) ‘Data localization laws: Trade barriers or legitimate responses to cybersecurity risks, or both?', International Journal of Law and Information Technology, 25 (3):213-32.

[25] Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (2018) ‘Sovereign wealth fund rankings', August. Accessed November 23, 2018 from https://www.swfinstitute.org/sovereign-wealth-fund-rankings/.

[26] Sprenger, F. (2015) The Politics of Micro-Decisions: Edward Snowden, Net Neutrality, and the Architectures of the Internet, Lüneburg: Meson Press.

[27] Starosielski, N. (2015) The Undersea Network, Durham: Duke University Press.

[28] Subramanian, S. (2017) ‘How Singapore is creating more land for itself', New York Times, April 20. Accessed November 23, 2018 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/magazine/how-singapore-is-creating-more-land-for-itself.html.

[29] Telin Singapore (2017) ‘Choosing the ideal data centre partner to support your growth into Indonesia', Telin Singapore, July 17. Accessed July 4, 2018 from https://www.telin.sg/article-detail/choosing_the_ideal_data_centre_partner_to_support_your_growth_into_indonesia/.

[30] Temasek (2017) Temasek Review 2017: Investor, Institution, Steward, Singapore: Temasek. Accessed July 4, 2018 from http://www.temasekreview.com.sg/downloads/temasek-review-2017.pdf.

[31] Terranova, T. (2000) ‘Free labor: Producing culture for the digital economy', Social Text, 18 (2):33-58.

[32] Trocki, C.A. (2002) ‘Opium and the beginnings of Chinese capitalism in Southeast Asia', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 33 (2):297-314.

[33] Trocki, C.A. (2005) Singapore: Wealth, Power and the Culture of Control, London: Routledge.

[34] Trocki, C.A. (2008) ‘Chinese revenue farms and borders in South East Asia', Modern Asian Studies, 43 (1):335-62.

[35] Tronti, M. (1966) Operai e capital [Workers and capital], Torino: Einaudi.

[36] Tsing, A. (2009) ‘Supply chains and the human condition', Rethinking Marxism, 21 (2):148-76.