*Apologies for cross posting*
“The Blue Growth Narrative and the Global South”
Royal Geographical Society RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, London, August 30th - September 2nd 2016
Sponsored by: Developing Areas Research Group (DARG) and Coastal and Marine Research Group (CMRG)
Session convenor: Celine Germond-Duret (Liverpool John Moores University)
Abstract:
The session aims to explore the discursive and practical impacts of the ‘blue growth’ narrative on the global South.
Blue growth (also referred as blue wealth, blue economy, ocean economy or maritime economy) has been endorsed by a wide range of actors, from development institutions to conservation organisations. Oceans are considered as drivers for the European Union’s economy, and blue growth is part of its 2020 Strategy. The World Bank has invested several billions in its blue growth’s portfolio (including the conservation of coastal and ocean habitats) and is involved in the FAO Blue Growth Initiative, which aims at building resilience of coastal communities and enhancing the productive potential of fisheries and aquaculture. Private sector’s involvement, and the discourse around ‘ecosystem services’ and ‘natural capital’, is central to the narrative, and the WWF has recently called for “smart investments in ocean health”. The 2050 Africa Integrated Maritime Strategy adopted by the African Union in 2013 recognises the “urgent imperative to develop a sustainable ‘blue economy’ initiative”.
However, these developments have been associated with social and economic costs, including the dispossession of vulnerable coastal populations through conservation and development projects, the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, and more generally the extension of neoliberalism onto new territories (ocean privatisation and ocean grabbing). The session will explore and critically assess the consequences of these developments for the global South. Do they represent opportunities or challenges? Are oceans a place of mistrust and conflicts, or hope and partnerships?
The session’s objectives are as follows:
1) Unravelling the complexities around the blue growth narrative’ impacts and how it is perceived and received by the global South (from endorsement to resistance);
2) Contributing to the “scholarly turn to the ocean” (Connery, 2006) and connecting Development studies to marine Geography. Human Geography as not been much interested in the sea, to the point that it has been defined as a “landlocked field” (Lambert et al., 2006). This in part results from the sea being traditionally wrongly represented as placeless, an ‘empty’ space outside of human and social experience (Germond and Germond-Duret, 2016). Considering the sea as placeless is very much Western-centred and does not take into consideration perceptions and practice by other societies, notably in the Global South. The need to get other, regional, developing perspectives is crucial to unravel the competing views on ocean governance, marine planning, and the practice of blue growth.
3) Contributing to the conference theme by showing that ‘nexus thinking’ can facilitate the understanding of the blue growth narrative, as it emphasises the interconnection between marine environment protection, fisheries, energy, and social constraints and requirements in the global South.
Deadline:
Applicants should submit an abstract of about 250 words, including a title and the affiliation of the author(s), to Celine Germond-Duret ( [log in to unmask] ) as soon as possible, and no later than Wednesday 10th of February.
References cited:
C.L. Connery (2006), “There was No More Sea: the supersession of the ocean, from the bible to cyberspace”, Journal of Historical Geography, Vol.32, No.3, pp.494-511.
B. Germond and C. Germond-Duret (2016), “Ocean Governance and Maritime Security in a Placeful Environment: The Case of the European Union”, Marine Policy, Forthcoming, doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2016.01.010
D. Lambert, L. Martins and M. Ogborn (2006), “Currents, visions and voyages: Historical geographies of the sea”, Journal of Historical Geography, Vol.32, No.3, pp.479-93.
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