Rosabelle Boswell - Böcker

How does one explain the poverty and marginalization of a group that lives in a remarkably successful economy and peaceful society? A native anthropologist, the author provides critical insight into the dynamics of contemporary Mauritian society. In her meticulously researched study of ethnic, gender and racial discrimination in Mauritius, she addresses debates carried out in many developing societies on subaltern identities, ethnicity, poverty and social injustice. The book therefore also offers important empirical material for scholars interested in the wider Indian Ocean region and beyond.

This handbook is unique in its consideration of social and cultural contributions to sustainable oceans management. It is also unique in its deconstruction of the hegemonic value attached to the oceans and in its analysis of discourses regarding what national governments in the Global South should prioritise in their oceans management strategy. Offering a historical perspective from the start, the handbook reflects on the confluence of (western) scientific discourse and colonialism, and the impact of this on indigenous conceptions of the oceans and on social identity. With regard to the latter, the authors are mindful of the nationalisation of island territories worldwide and the impact of this process on regional collaboration, cultural exchange and the valuation of the oceans. Focusing on global examples, the handbook offers a nuanced, region relevant, contemporary conceptualisation of blue heritage, discussing what will be required to achieve an inclusive oceans economy by 2063, the end goal date of the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The analysis will be useful to established academics in the field of ocean studies, policymakers and practitioners engaged in research on the ocean economy, as well as graduate scholars in the ocean sciences.

This handbook is unique in its consideration of social and cultural contributions to sustainable oceans management. It is also unique in its deconstruction of the hegemonic value attached to the oceans and in its analysis of discourses regarding what national governments in the Global South should prioritise in their oceans management strategy.

This book investigates the ways in which human reconnection with the ocean and coast is a desire and bid for a reconnection with human sensory experience on Earth. In seeking to examine the sensory, temporal and spiritual human experience of the ocean and coast, as well as the cultural dimensions of those experiences, it seeks to offer deep insight into what it really means to ‘rehumanize’ ocean and heritage management in Africa, and by extension, the world. The author proposes that rehumanization involves deepening emerging concepts of human-nature interaction; perceiving nature as consisting not only of potentially sentient entities and qualities, but considering that these have their own, not yet fully discernible logics and processes. This book also suggests that the interaction between humans and nature – specifically the ocean – be considered as a locus for a radical decolonization of identity in Africa, since it involves consideration of African connection with the ocean, not via the violent processes of slavery and colonization but via processes of adaptation and co-resilience with nature.