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PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Conserv. Sci.
Sec. Conservation Social Sciences
Volume 5 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2024.1422829
This article is part of the Research Topic Transnational Maritime Environmental Crime View all 3 articles
Ocean as harmscapes: Navigating the waters of southern blue criminology
Provisionally accepted- 1 University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
- 2 University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
This paper introduces southern blue criminology, a novel theoretical framework that extends traditional criminological analysis to encompass the environmental harms affecting the world's oceans, particularly from a Global South perspective. This approach critiques crime-centric analysis and expands upon the concept of "harmscapes"—areas significantly impacted by ecological damage—by integrating socio-economic and cultural contexts often overlooked by prevailing enforcement paradigms developed in the Global North. Through a critical review of existing criminological theories and maritime enforcement practices, this study highlights the inadequacies of current approaches that fail to account for the transnational and complex nature of oceanic harms. Southern blue criminology is proposed through four integrative perspectives: shifting from a crime-centric view to embracing a broader conception of ocean harmscapes; moving beyond state-centric responses to foster whole-of-society involvement including non-state actors; transcending Western-centric governance models in favor of context-dependent strategies that respect local knowledge and practices; and expanding the analytical frame from human-centric approaches to include human-nonhuman assemblages, recognizing the ocean as an active participant in ecological and social interactions. The framework aims to foster more effective and sustainable management of marine environments, proposing a shift from a punitive focus to a more comprehensive, preventive, and restorative approach. The implications of this research are significant, suggesting a transformative shift in policies to better address the intricate web of factors contributing to maritime environmental crimes and to enhance global ecological justice.
Keywords: southern blue criminology, blue criminology, Harmscapes, Oceans, green criminology, whole-of-society, non-state (Min.5-Max. 8, Polycentric
Received: 24 Apr 2024; Accepted: 26 Aug 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Hübschle and Berg. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Annette M. Hübschle, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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