ABSTRACT

The sea is presented as a space "outside" society, a friction-free surface increasingly made obsolete (or at least suitable for being ignored) thanks to air travel and seamless container transport. The sea is presented as an abstract point on a grid, to be developed. The sea is presented as a repository of fragile, global nature, to be stewarded. Each of these images is accurate, but each is partial. Not only do these images tell partial stories; they obscure the material reality experienced by those who derive their living from the sea. These images obscure contemporary seafarers, dockworkers, artisanal fishers, and others who may be "managed" out of existence by the regulatory strategies with which each image is aligned. For the sea remains - as it has been since the advent of the modern era - a space constructed amidst competing interests and priorities, and it will continue to be transformed amidst social change. (emphasis given)