Depth beyond 3D: The decolonial dimensions of volume

Abstract

In this study, I argue that attending to decolonial dimensions can add depth to studies of volume and capitalism more broadly. Bringing Black and Indigenous studies into conversation with the volume literature, I analyze several forms of dimension at work in the production of volume as a relational space that can incorporate, and exceed, 3D Cartesian grids. These are illustrated through an examination of the handling of shipping containers, an influential embodiment of gridded space that, given shipping’s dependence upon racialized labor and colonial extraction, are a key site for understanding how efforts to standardize and secure volume are entangled with global injustice.