Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Emergence and Impact of Law in Oceanic Space

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

All social and legal institutions, relations and practices are located and distributed in space. This research focuses on ocean space as an active social and spatial field where there are increasing claims and counter claims regarding user rights and access. In addition, going beyond the common perception that oceans are flat, empty spaces, this study examines oceanic regions as environments where cultural practices, identities and struggles unfold and new legal norms emerge and are enforced. The work highlights contradictions and inadequacies that exist between international standards for maritime security and actual practices and capabilities, and examines ocean law and competition over oceanic space. As such, the research has broader impacts for maritime governance, social regulation of maritime space, and understanding sources of conflict in regions where the U.S. has strategic interests. Doctoral student Donald Underwood, supervised by Dr. Brenda Chalfin, will conduct this research focusing on West African ocean space off the coast of Ghana. The African Union has declared the years 2015-2025 to be the Decade of African Seas and Oceans, and, since oil and gas production began in Ghana in 2010, the ecology of life offshore has become more active and complex. The waters off of Ghana?s Western Region are undergoing rapid transformation, and there have been increasing concerns from fishing communities regarding the impacts of new oil exploration and extraction activities. Given the rapid transformation of ocean space and energetic efforts of nations to advance their offshore interests, this study conducts 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork to understand how offshore waters are being socially constructed, organized and legitimated through notions of territorial space, historic entitlement, and international law. The research includes interviews with migratory fishermen, offshore drilling platform workers and suppliers, maritime experts, and law enforcement agents and data analysis that focuses on the practices and experiences of working at sea and emerging efforts to govern West African ocean space.