Blue Economies and Ocean Grabbing

Critical approaches towards the neoliberalization of coastal and marine spaces in Latin America and the Global South

Issue Editors: Nemer E. Narchi & Gustavo G. M. Moura


For nearly twenty years the social relations and structures of the world’s coasts and oceans have been transformed by the adoption of new administrative schemes, positions, and perspectives emerging from the “Blue Economy” paradigm. Blue Economy considers coasts and oceans as natural capital that, when carefully managed, seems to be an optimal arena for business. As such, Blue Economy presents itself as a multi-beneficial solution aiming at simultaneously achieving environmental conservation, generation of new jobs, and integration of small-scale coastal communities into global economies, while also generating large profits for investors and creating a new engine for economic growth in developing countries.

In spite of the apparent usefulness of Blue Economy for solving climate change, ensuring local development, or preserving the remaining marine biota, many contemporary examples of Blue Development show how powerful economic actors operate upon the world’s coasts and oceans in order to gain exclusive access and control of coastal and marine resources, a process informally known as ocean grabbing. Numerous examples to illustrate the aforementioned can be found all over Latin America. These examples are usually related to established but expanding industries such as: resort and marina development, rural gentrification and residential tourism, and the spread of aquaculture farms. Nonetheless, emerging industries such as deep sea mining, ecotourism, fisheries certification, and pharmaceutical prospecting also, and perhaps more strongly, play a part in ocean grabbing by imposing projects, realities, and territorial control upon seascapes and coastal communities.

The importance of a multi-sited and empirical assessment of how Blue Economies have evolved in the past two decades is particularly relevant to the zeitgeist of present times, especially after the United Nations’ proclamation of a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). Decades after first implementing Blue Economy schemes, in addition to an ever-growing expansion of “green and blue” environmental solutions, we bare witness to dispossession, access restriction, and marginalization of long-time settled coastal communities, along with monopolization, and over-exploitation of coastal and marine resources. This special issue of Latin American Perspectives is an open invitation for critical theoretical approaches and empirical research analyzing how the political and economic interconnections of global trade, institutions, monies, peoples, and technologies shape the agendas and outcomes of the Blue Economy.

Rather than articles that propose a straight and monolithic conclusions, we seek manuscripts that place special empahsis on how ocean-grabbing fits into the broader political economy of contemporary capitalist accumulation. In addition, they should contribute to a better understanding of the internal contradictions of applied Blue Economy projects as judged by their socio-environmental impacts on coasts communities in Latin America and the Global South.  Submissions may analyze the role of the state, national and transnational capital, and international organgizations and agreements in promoting ocean grabbing. We also welcome manuscripts that consider alternative development strategies, social movements, and active resistance against asymmetrical Blue growth.

Manuscripts may address specific case studies for a single country or region, or comparatively between countries. They may also look at overall policy planning and implementing in a country or region considering its economic, environmental, and political complexities and outcomes.  Lastly, contributing manuscripts may also analyze the discourses legitimizing blue development , contrasting these with the empirical performance of blue development in terms of food security, economic development, biological conservation, and climate change, among others.

Submissions are invited on any relevant topic, which could include but are not limited to:

  • Access rights to coastal and marine resources, including common pool resources and their management in the face of Blue Economy.
  • Deep-sea mining: promises, and its implications for coastal communities.
  • Endangered livelihoods and local knowledge in the face of Blue Economy.
  • Fisheries management (with special emphasis on the enclosure of the commons).
  • Indigenous people, coastal communities, and development projects.
  • NGOs and capitalist conservation.
  • Privatization for conservation.
  • Ocean grabbing and accumulation by dispossession.
  • Relationship between ocean/coastal degradation and climate change including how extractive interests might be profiting from the crisis.
  • The oceans as political and strategic arenas (with focus on Ratzel’s Politische Ozeanographie)
  • The political, economic, and social consequences of fishing bans.
  • The role of free-trade agreements, United Nations Organization, World Bank, or other international agreements and/or institutions in promoting blue development.
  • The role of neutral and citizen science in promoting Blue Economies and ocean grabbing.
  • Tourism, Blue Economies, and ocean grabbing.
  • Universities, Blue Economies, and ocean grabbing
  • Upstream economies, riverine runoffs, and the effects on coastal and marine environments and communities.

Manuscript Submission

To avoid duplication of content, please contact the issue editor to let him know of your interest in submitting and your proposed topic.  We encourage submission as soon as possible but this call will remain open as long as it is posted on the LAP web site.

Manuscripts should be no longer than 8,000 words of double-spaced 12 point text, including notes and references, and should be paginated. The manuscript should include an abstract of no more than 100 words and 5 key words. Include a separate cover sheet with author identification, basic biographical and contact information, including e-mail and postal addresses.  Please follow the LAP style guide which is available at  www.latinamericanperspectives.com under the “Submissions” tab.   Please use the “About” tab for the LAP Mission Statement and details about the manuscript review process.

Manuscripts may be submitted in English, Spanish, or Portuguese.  If submitting in Spanish or Portuguese, please indicate if you will have difficulty reading correspondence from the LAP office in English.  LAP will translate accepted manuscripts submitted in Spanish and Portuguese.  If you do not write in English with near native fluency, please submit in your first language.

All manuscripts should be original work that has not been published in English and that is not being submitted to or considered for publication in English elsewhere in identical or similar form.

Please feel free to contact the Issue Editor with questions pertaining to the issue but be sure that manuscripts are sent to the LAP office by e-mail to:

E-mail Submissions: send to lap@ucr.edu with subject line: MS for Ocean Grabbing issue

Please attach your manuscript as a Word Document (doc or docx)

Include: Abstract (100 words), 5 Keywords, and a separate cover page with short author affiliations (less than 130 words), and complete contact information (e-mail, postal address, telephone).

For an article with more than one author, provide contact information for all authors but designate one person as the Corresponding Author who will receive correspondence from the LAP office.  If any contact information changes while your manuscript is under consideration, please send the updated information to LAP promptly.

Postal correspondence may be sent to: Managing Editor, Latin American Perspectives¸ P.O. Box 5703, Riverside, California 92517-5703.


Nemer E. Narchi – narchi@colmich.edu.mx