The dragon’s head or Athens’ sacrifice zone? Spatiotemporal disjuncture, logistical disruptions, and urban infrastructural justice in Piraeus port, Greece

Abstract

ABSTRACT Piraeus Port is the biggest port in Greece and ranks among the world’s largest passenger ports. By drawing on four years of in-depth ethnographic research and a deep familiarity with the area, I aim to elucidate the paradoxical juxtaposition between the allure of prosperity and rapid growth, intricately interwoven with the expansion of port and logistical infrastructures, and the concurrent escalation of adverse consequences for human and nonhuman life in the urban landscape. Bringing together literature on logistics and sacrifice zones, I introduce the notion of spatiotemporal disjuncture, to shed light on the coexistence of divergent realities within a single locale, rooted in the deliberate obfuscation of everyday truths inherent to these evolving infrastructural spaces. I conclude by emphasizing the necessity of placing the concept of urban infrastructural justice at the forefront of contemporary urban scholarship, both as a theoretical framework and a political demand capable of addressing infrastructural inequities exacerbated by the logistical revolution of the twenty-first century and fostering a collective imagination for radically different urban futures within and beyond port cities.