Overcoming disciplinary traditions. Pleading for logistics studies in the field

The aim of this article is to consider the place of logistics studies in the social sciences. Based on a review of works that have made logistics an important theme in their respective scientific endeavors, the study seeks to go beyond disciplinary traditions and make logistics an object of study that cuts across social sciences concerned with transformations in economic geographies and commercial practices. In particular, the article seeks to highlight the contribution of logistics studies to the study of the economies of the South (and Africa in particular). The reviewed works are classified into two groups: On the one hand, many of them take a global approach to understanding the effects of logistics, tending to naturalize the global ambitions of this industry. On the other hand, it is the local particularities of trade flows and logistics tools that attract attention. I conclude by proposing a methodological and theoretical program capable of linking these different scientific traditions and fully developing the potential of logistics studies.