2022/10/18 by Rosanna Carver · 5 citations
Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Arctic and Russian Policy Studies #Coastal and Marine Management #Colonialism #Ecology #Economics #Economy #Framing (construction) #Frontier #Geography #International Maritime Law Issues #Law #Political economy #Political science #Resistance (ecology) #Rhetoric #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1111/anti.12890
published in Antipode 55(2), 327-347 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2022/10/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract The perceived neglect of the ocean to state and industry actors has seen frontier rhetoric emerge as it is rendered visible under the Blue Economy agenda. By framing the marine scape as underutilised, capitalist expansion is being legitimised. Drawing on the case of Namibia, I argue that the afterlives of colonialism and apartheid are being repurposed to present the ocean as a Blue Economy opportunity. The physical disconnection of citizens from the marine scape, and the dominance of fishing and mining industries, has been used by state and development actors to present it as empty of socio‐cultural relations. However, to declare Namibia’s coasts and ocean as forgotten unless articulated through capital is to conceal that they have been labelled “no‐go” zones. I argue that, by considering exclusions and looking beyond proximity in discussions of equity and representation, the marine scape is articulated by civil society, to elucidate forms of resistance.