ABOUT THE TALK
A growing critical literature views the Blue Economy through the lens of coastal grabbing. This literature highlights how the coast has increasingly become a ‘site of development’ where capital accumulates and small-scale fishers (SSFs) are dispossessed both in terms of space and livelihoods. Such a view of the Blue Economy, unwittingly perhaps, creates a binary between the before and after of the Blue Economy. The Blue Economy, we argue, is not new but the latest iteration of neoliberal development. It is not a singular phenomenon – it comprises different ‘activities’ which have differential impacts on SSFs. Through a case study of three fishing villages on the northern coast of Pamban Island, we explore the complex workings of the Blue Economy. We analyze two Blue Economy activities, aquaculture and seaweed farming, and how they are entangled, and explore their impact on SSFs with special attention to issues of land, labour and environment.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ajit Menon is a Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies. His research focuses on the political ecology of development and conservation, mostly in forested and coastal landscapes. His research is driven by his concern that development, despite the rhetoric of sustainable development, increasingly degrades nature and adversely impacts more marginal communities who depend directly on nature for their livelihoods. His recent work, in the context of tiger conservation, critically examines neoliberal conservation and how mainstream environmental economics by valuing nature promotes the increasing commodification of nature. He is an Editor of Conservation and Society and an Associate Editor of Maritime Studies.

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