Sustaining Livelihoods: Mobility and Governance in the Senegalese Atlantic

McKay, Deirdre; Hallaire, Juliette

Abstract

Recent geographies of the sea emphasize the vital role that the ocean plays in the organization of societies. Steinberg argues ‘the ocean is not merely a space used by society; it is one component of the space of society’ (2001: 6 original emphasis). In this chapter, we explore the ways in which the sea is a space of society for Senegalese fishing communities, providing the resources essential to their everyday lives. We show how, in recent years, the depletion of marine resources, and competition for access to them, has created power struggles that are transforming traditional Senegalese uses and understandings of oceanic space through changed relationships with the state and increased mobility in order to sustain livelihoods.

Citation

McKay, D., & Hallaire, J. (2014). Sustaining Livelihoods: Mobility and Governance in the Senegalese Atlantic. In Water Worlds: Human Geographies of the Ocean (12). London: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)

• Online Publication Date: Feb 22, 2016
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2014
• Deposit Date: May 31, 2023
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Pages: 12
• Edition: 1st
• Book Title: Water Worlds: Human Geographies of the Ocean
• Chapter Number: 9