Marine Justice, Ocean Studies, and Coastal Communities

This session contributes to the emergence and importance of studying the ocean, marine justice, and coastal communities from sociological perspectives. Through the presentation of case studies, qualitative or quantitative research, and/or theoretical arguments, panelists are invited to develop the applicability, potential, and strengths of marine and/or coastal sociology. How could sociological perspectives and paradigms, including, but not limited, to political economy, political ecology, Indigenous knowledge and practice, environmental justice, social constructionism, or social movements, inform or be informed by greater attention to the marine environment and/or coastal communities? Likewise, how could areas of concentration typically associated with land-based studies enlighten and be enlightened by an aquatic lens? Such case studies could include, but are not limited to, offshore mineral or resource extraction, aquaculture or commercial fishing, global transport, coastal cultures, marine literacy, coastal activism, marine conservation, or the future of socio-aquatic/coastal research. Coastal communities and marine environments offer distinct socio-geographical spaces for the intrepid sociologist as well, including, but not limited to, coastlines, nearshore local waters, deep-sea water, international waters, and beneath the seabed - where people traverse, live, consume, extract, play, or work, to name a few activities. This session recognizes that the marine environment and coastal communities have been under-explored in environmental and community research, centers both as significant new fields of study for sociologists with a focus on justice, and facilitates conversations on novel directions of study or theoretical contributions.