Constructing Marine and Maritime Space: The Geopolitics of Regional Seas

Abstract

Regional seas and ocean spaces have become important sites of and for international governance as much as they have become politicized spaces of and for geopolitical contestation. Such geopolitical contestations may include imaginary conflicts over maritime regions as a source, habitat and living space, goal conflicts over human, social, cultural, environmental, energy and national security, spatial conflicts over borders, boundaries, scales and interdependencies, and political conflicts over the formation, form and function of governance regimes. Often, these four types of conflict are not isolated, but interrelated and mutually constitutive. This panel takes an actor- and process-centered view to investigate how constructions of marine and maritime space by states, non-state actors, residents and institutions have consequences for governance processes in regional sea areas. The papers in this panel conduct in-depth single case studies or cross-case analyses that use the framework of (critical) geopolitics to theoretically apply and empirically assess how marine and maritime constructions: • empower certain political actors and sideline or marginalize others • promote distinct narratives, imaginaries, securities, policies and strategies • (de)politicize/(de)securitize marine and maritime spaces and their governance.