Heterotopia afloat

Heterotopia afloat featured in Neo-Metabolism’s Spring/Summer 2022 Research Capsule. The essay uses Foucault’s concept of heterotopia to consider the role of the cruise liner during the COVID-19 pandemic, during which a handful of ships were made to remain at sea, each maintaining a bubble of the pre-pandemic world within. The essay was accompanied by visualisations of shipping data, which showed the passage of the cruise ship MV Artania as it was first denied port, then detained in Western Australia, then forced to sail to various ports in the Global South in order to return its crew, who were not given the option to travel by air, to their homes.