Logistics as Care and Control: An Investigation into the UNICEF Supply Division
summary
Argues that UNICEF Supply’s logistics function operates simultaneously as logistics as care and control, marrying humanitarian intent with tight oversight. Fieldwork shows 10,000 shipments in 2014 worth $3.4B (up from $500M in 2000), frequent failures (stockouts, heat damage, wrong docs), a painful SAP ERP big‑bang rollout with steep usability and training gaps, and a mobile tracking pilot in Nepal that exposes partner nonuse, falsified records, and feelings of policing rather than support. Uses Foucault’s pastoral power to frame tradeoffs.
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