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Paper short abstract

This paper argues that citizen science initiatives in Sri Lanka’s Negombo Lagoon often reproduce epistemic hierarchies rather than democratise knowledge. Drawing on eco-ethnography, I propose attentiveness as a method to transform technocratic volunteerism into a justice-oriented ethic of care.

Paper long abstract

Climate urgency is increasingly reshaping environmental governance through what can be described as technologies of anticipation. In Sri Lanka’s Negombo Lagoon, global and local scientific frameworks—such as Blue Carbon initiatives and IUCN Red List classifications—reorder ecological value by privileging specific ecosystems and species, while effectively abandoning degraded habitats and non-commercial forms of life. These anticipatory regimes reproduce hierarchies between valued and devalued life, producing a polarised socio-ecological landscape in which small-scale fishers are criminalised for subsistence practices, while politically connected developers often degrade habitats with impunity.

Drawing on eco-ethnographic fieldwork conducted with fishers, scientists, and conservation actors, this paper examines how these regimes intersect in ways that often undermine local knowledge systems. I situate my analysis within citizen science initiatives, approaching them not as neutral technical tools but as contested political practices. By engaging directly with these initiatives, I trace how they may extract local knowledge while simultaneously depoliticising the structural inequalities embedded in conservation governance.

I argue that eco-ethnographic attentiveness to the entanglements between human and non-human worlds—including “problematic” life forms such as jellyfish—renders these tensions visible rather than allowing them to be smoothed over by technocratic consensus. Ultimately, the paper reflects on the ethical stakes of anthropological engagement in a time of climate urgency. I suggest that a methodological shift toward eco-ethnographic attentiveness can reorient citizen science away from extractive volunteerism and toward an ethic of care. Valuing these “abandoned” relations is crucial for imagining more accountable and less polarised forms of environmental governance and coastal resilience.