ABSTRACT
Over the last few decades, there has been an increase in conflicts between nature conservation authorities and lifestyle sports participants both internationally and in Norway. This chapter discusses one of these conflicts: the dispute over the right to surf space between surfers and nature management policy makers in the Jæren area on the southwest coast of Norway. The purpose of this article is to understand why and how surfers are resisting the ban, and how surfers and authorities justify their respective standpoints. The chapter looks at the surfers’ resistance towards the surfing ban from two levels. The first level analyses the justifying principles behind the implementation of the ban and the surfers’ arguments against it. Building on Boltanski and Thevenot’s understanding of justification principles, the chapter argues that the conservation authorities are successful in defending themselves from surfers’ criticism by referring to the green and the domestic orders of worth, and thereby maintain the ban on surfing as a ‘common good’. The second level examines the surfers’ relation to surfing and to the banned waves. The main findings are that surfing and some of the banned surf spots are deeply entrenched in the surfers’ identity. In addition to providing them with great personal experiences and career opportunities, surfing also gives them coherence, a position in the surfing community and in society in general. To continue to surf maintains their lifestyle. The key findings also indicate that the waves can be viewed as territories to which surfers claim ownership and that illegal surfing can be viewed as a way of maintaining what they regard as their territory. The chapter concludes by discussing how nature conservation authorities can work in order to reduce the conflict potential in this and similar cases.
