Paper short abstract:

In this paper I aim to reflect on the implications of adopting an oceanic orientation to explore the transformations at play in the Comoro archipelago. The oceanic movement allows us to reflect on the needs for a “dis-placed” ethnography as a manner for thinking anthropology otherwise.

Paper long abstract:

Based on ethnographic research conducted in the Comoros islands, in this paper I aim to reflect on the implications of trying to adopt an oceanic orientation as a key to understanding the transformative processes at play in the archipelago. In an attempt to understand the impact of blue economy policies, embracing a sea-based perspective allowed me to decentralise the gaze from the resurgence of continental approaches, blurring inter-island identity boundaries and enhancing archipelagic continuities and connections. The engagement with local fishermen has projected me beyond the static imaginaries linked to the myth of progress emphasised by conservationist policies themselves. Going beyond inshore discourses, the daily experience at sea unfolds a world of silences, gestures, knowledge, and techniques that recall temporalities and ecologies, submerged by land-based discourses. Such a maritime rhythm marked the ethnography: unveiling a world of practices in constant counterpoint to the onshore narratives; tracing routes of connections and correspondences which allowed me to navigate between islands and explore in an archipelagic manner the economic and social transformations linked to conservation policies. Opening to the unpredictability, disorientation, and movement triggered by such oceanic immersion becomes an essential element in understanding and appreciating the displacing dimension of ethnography. The sense of disorientation perceived in the oceanic movement allows us to reflect on the needs for a “dis-placed” ethnography as a manner for thinking anthropology otherwise.