Assembling marine spatial planning in the global south: International agencies and the fate of fishing communities in In
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RESEARCH
Assembling marine spatial planning in the global south: International agencies and the fate of fishing communities in India Divya Karnad 1
&
Kevin St. Martin 2
Received: 30 August 2019 / Accepted: 23 January 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The language and practice of Marine spatial planning (MSP) is typically associated with state-led multi-sectoral planning efforts. Yet in countries like India, where the government is not yet promoting MSP, ocean space has already been divided using principles and practices that are characteristic of MSP elsewhere in the world. Instead of being initiated by the state, these MSP-like processes are initiated by international agencies when industries seek large-scale development of India’s marine ecosystems. Although intended as an inclusive, holistic process to plan industrial development, this assemblage of MSP technologies, processes, and practices mandated by international corporations produces a particular power relation through its rejection of local knowledge and insistence on data, for instance, in the form of discrete, geo-coded polygons. This paper argues that this form of MSP produces an ontological politics, despite emerging from seemingly rational, post-political, and technocratic processes. Engaging with such politics is increasingly possible with access to geographical information systems, and this, therefore, provides a novel space in which to engage in political struggle. The case of externally mandated MSP in India demonstrates that non-state actors can initiate MSP, and therefore, opens the possibility for fishing communities, as non-state actors, to directly engage with the assemblage of practices that produce MSP. Keywords Blue economy . Marine spatial planning . Community . Commons . Fishing territories . Ontological politics
Introduction Marine spatial planning (henceforth MSP) is now a global phenomenon advanced by a range of agencies and actors in national and international contexts. Most proponents of MSP agree that it can be a practical and technical solution able to rationalize decision-making given the growing problem of competing use of marine space (Jay 2010). It is also thought of as a framework to balance the economic development of the marine environment with concerns for ecosystem health and sustainability (e.g. Foley et al. 2010). The implementation of MSP requires a coordinated effort and its success hinges upon the degree to which the plans are authorized (e.g. by the state)
* Divya Karnad [email protected] 1
Department of Environmental Studies, Ashoka University, Sonipat, Haryana, India
2
Department of Geography, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, USA
to fairly adjudicate between competing interests (Ehler 2008). Within a relatively short time, these basic tenets of MSP have been established and presented with remarkable consistency as the foundation for the management of marine territories whether they be municipal, national, or international in s
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