- Convenors:
-
Hege Leivestad
(University of Oslo)
David Sausdal (Lund University)
Camilla Mevik (University of Agder)
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- Chair:
-
Hege Leivestad
(University of Oslo)
- Discussant:
-
Elisabeth Schober
(University of Oslo)
- Formats:
- Panel
- Network:
- Network Panel
Short Abstract
This panel asks how the sea - a challenging space to govern due to the intersection of legal circulation and unregulated activities - is being reimagined as a frontier of contested transnational mobilities and extraction. We explore the interplay between licit circulation and ‘illegality'.
Long Abstract
In a world increasingly divided over trade justice, climate responsibility, and national sovereignty, this panel asks how the sea is being reimagined as a frontier of sustainability and a space of contested transnational mobilities and extraction. The sea has traditionally been a challenging space to govern due to the intersection of legal circulation and undocumented and unregulated activities. Maritime spaces, at sea and along the shores, are sites where regulatory attempts, extractive interests, securitization regimes, and value generation often collide, and where the boundaries between what is deemed licit and illicit are blurred. Sea routes, maritime infrastructures, and associated activities are areas where the boundaries between the ‘licit’ and ‘illicit’ are fluid and interchangeable, often serving as focal points for conflict and mediation.
We propose exploring the concept of the “(il)licit sea,” a multifaceted phenomenon that reflects the historical and contemporary interplay between legal circulation and ‘illegality’. By integrating insights from anthropology, criminology, and critical logistics studies, this panel seeks to illuminate how maritime spaces are shaped via intricate dynamics of governance, extraction, and resistance. Submissions are invited that, for instance, investigate (il)licit maritime circulation and practices, including smuggling and trafficking of people and goods (including counterfeit material, arms, drugs, and wildlife), as well as the transportation and dumping of e-waste and toxic materials, and destructive fishing practices. We aim to collectively explore the intersections of sustainability, regulation, and transnational mobility within these fluid contexts. We also invite ethnographic explorations of how policies are being reinterpreted, subverted, or even weaponised in maritime contexts.