Blue Justice and the co-production of hermeneutical resources for small-scale fisheries

Hermeneutical injustice, as a species of epistemic injustice, is when members of marginalized groups are unable to make their experiences communicatively intelligible due to a deficiency in collective hermeneutical resources, where this deficiency is traditionally interpreted as a lack of concepts. Against this understanding, this article argues that even if adequate concepts that describe marginalized groups’ experiences are available within the collective hermeneutical resources, hermeneutical injustice can persist. This article offers an analysis of how this can happen by introducing the notion of hermeneutical excess: the introduction of additional concepts into collective hermeneutical resources that function to obscure agents’ understanding of the lived experiences of marginalized groups. The injustice of hermeneutical excesses happens not due to hermeneutical marginalization (the exclusion of members of marginalized groups from the construction of hermeneutical resources), but rather from hermeneutical domination: when members of dominant groups have been inappropriately included in the construction of hermeneutical resources. By taking as exemplary cases the concepts of “reverse racism” and “nonconsensual sex,” this article shows how such excesses are introduced as a kind of defensive strategy used by dominant ideologies precisely when progress with social justice is made.

In 2024 University of Amsterdam’s launched a new research priority area, "Decolonial Futures," which centers on transforming archives, museums, and cultural institutions to address colonial legacies. This article focuses on colonial archives managed by archival institutions. The central question is what forms of injustice are embedded within these archives and how can archival institutions build better archival futures based on the recognition of those injustices. Colonial archives are inherently problematic as knowledge resources, as they primarily reflect the perspectives of colonial authorities, often distorting and silencing the voices of colonized populations. Drawing on Miranda Fricker's concept of epistemic injustice, two main forms of injustice can be identified: hermeneutical injustice and testimonial injustice. Testimonial injustice occurs according to Fricker when a hearer gives "a deflated level of credibility to a speaker’s word", often based on the speaker’s gender or race. Testimonial injustice frequently results from hermeneutical injustice, which involves structural identity prejudice. Fricker defines hermeneutical injustice as "the injustice of having (…) one’s social experience obscured from collective understanding owing to a structural identity prejudice in the collective hermeneutical resource". Using the lens of epistemic injustice offers valuable opportunities to better understand the problematic nature of colonial archives, while also providing archival institutions with guidance on how to avoid perpetuating injustices when creating digital archival spaces. This article shares experiences from a project initiated by the Dutch National Archives to map how representatives from affected communities, as well as those from the academic and heritage sectors, view the necessity and possibilities for archival institutions to engage with these archives in a different, decolonial way, with the aim of creating a more inclusive historical record and better serving communities marginalized by history.

One of the most promising economic arenas in the coming decades is the ocean and there are currently numerous initiatives to the ‘blue economy’ discourse that revolves around the argument that small-scale fishers’ livelihoods require greater attention. To synthesize current scientific knowledge and address prevailing research gaps surrounding this discourse, I conduct a scoping review of global literature on the blue economy, blue growth, social equity, and Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF) analyse different international policy papers and national-level blue economy plans. To explore the need for further research, this review focuses on how different aspects of the blue economy risks lead to inequity in the pursuit of ocean sustainability. Based on the initial content analysis, I identify evidence for undermining social equity and justice related to the ocean and find that social equity is often overlooked in national-level blue economy and blue growth initiatives. This overlooking leads to or accelerates processes of coastal and ocean grabbing, displacement, dispossession, and exclusion which strongly impact the livelihoods of marginalized coastal communities, particularly, small-scale fishers in various parts of the world. The collected evidence suggests that there is a missing link between international policy deliberations and national-level implementation plans in the blue economy context. Numerous studies claim that critical re-thinking of policies is required to ensure the sustainability of blue economy trajectories. Unchecked economic growth in the ocean as in other realms can reinforce inequities and unjust and inequitable resource distribution patterns. To pre-empt, mitigate, and resolve likely conflicts, deeper insights are needed to address the impacts of the blue economy and blue growth on coastal livelihoods. I suggest investigating the causes of conflict and further research on how governance responds to sustain small-scale fisheries while embracing the blue economy and blue growth agendas.

Capture fisheries are very important economic activity and have contributed greatly to the total fishery production in general in the District Naganraya. Fishery system that occurs dominated by small-scale fisheries. Fishermen in Naganraya district has a high dependence on fisheries resources as the main source of livelihood and almost all coastal areas based fisheries activities. Small-scale fisheries businesses have an impact on the fishing fleet and fishing locations (fishing ground) resulting in range of fishing operations is limited. The purpose of this research is 1). Analyzing small-scale capture fisheries system in locations PKN Naganraya district, 2). Formulate an alternative strategy in the management of small-scale fishing locations PKN Naganraya district. Data to be collected in this study consisted of primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected intensively using semi-structured interviews (semi-structured interview) to small-scale fishermen, observation and documentation in selected locations. The results showed that the dominant type of fishing gear is trawl catches beach and species that dominate the catch is Sardinella lemuru and Selar spp. Fish marketing patterns in locations peningkapan fishing activities (PKN) is not through the auction only through traders / large and are twelve strategic through internal and external environmental factors were dominant influence on the pattern of the conceptualization of small-scale fishery management in PKN location Nagan Raya.

Hermeneutical injustice is an epistemic injustice that happens when a person's experience cannot be well understood or articulated because of the problem with the collective hermeneutical resource -- a collection of concepts and words that we use to understand one's experience and to communicate with one another about it. Previously, Miranda Fricker and Rebecca Mason have suggested two types of hermeneutical injustice: Hermeneutical Gap and Hermeneutical Distortion. Fricker believes that hermeneutical injustice is a gap between hermeneutical resources, whereas Mason suggests the collective hermeneutical resource can also be distorted when the words and concepts that comprise it are inferentially related in ways that are invalid or inductively weak. However, in this paper, I identify a novel type of hermeneutical injustice that I call Hermeneutical Weakening. In a case of HW, hermeneutical injustice is neither caused by the collective hermeneutical resource being deficient nor it being distorted, but due to it being weakened. I define Hermeneutical Weakening as the loss of word significance when the lexical effect of the word is weakened due to overuse. I then differentiate hermeneutical weakening from both hermeneutical gap and distortion. In particular, I analyze the subtle differences between weakening and distortion and argue the lexical effect can also be weakened through non-literal uses of words when the literal standard meaning of words to which distortion tied is suspended. Finally, I explain the generation of hermeneutical weakening and how it is also a form of oppression of the marginalized group generated systematically under the social system.

From vulnerability to viability: A situational analysis of small-scale fisheries in Asia and Africa

This article develops a new approach for theorizing about hermeneutical injustice. According to a dominant view, hermeneutical injustice results from a hermeneutical gap: one lacks the conceptual tools needed to make sense of, or to communicate, important social experiences, where this lack is a result of an injustice in the background social methods used to determine hermeneutical resources. I argue that this approach is incomplete. It fails to capture an important species of hermeneutical injustice which doesn't result from a lack of hermeneutical resources, but from the overabundance of distorting and oppressive concepts which function to crowd-out, defeat, or pre-empt the application of a more accurate hermeneutical resource. I propose a broader analysis that better respects the dynamic relationship between hermeneutical resources and the social and political contexts in which they are implemented.

The era of blue growth, underpinned by neoliberal policy discourses, has been pervasive in the promulgation of European marine governance and policies in the past decade, with little or no regard for the sustainability of small-scale fisheries. In this paper, we engage with theoretical and empirical observations to reflect on how the promise of sustainable economic growth arising from the convergence of international conservation policies and the blue growth paradigm, has failed to materialise and caused huge social and economic inequities among local fishing communities and the catastrophic disruption of the socio-ecological system of fisheries. Drawing on various interventions in Malta, we illustrate how neoliberal policies, lauded and promoted as part of a national blue growth strategy, are suffocating and marginalising small-scale fishing communities by concentrating fishing opportunities into fewer, larger corporate hands, and by a hegemonic anti-small scale fishing narrative that seeks to replace traditional fishing with the ‘darlings of the new blue economy’, aquaculture and coastal tourism. With artisanal-commercial fishing in Malta on the verge of extinction, we call for reversal of neo-liberal policy measures to re-create a more resilient and stable fisheries economy through specific blue degrowth measures including improved access to fisheries resources and markets, and the establishment of marine protected areas that recognize the value of small-scale fisheries to conservation. This could be achieved through equity-based governance systems, including improved profit distribution systems within community economies, that grant small-scale fisheries the possibility of re-institutionalizing their sector and promoting their existence and viability into the future. Ultimately, we demonstrate that through a blue economy roadmap for small-scale fisheries, small-islands states like Malta, can rescue an important component of their maritime traditions, and be better placed to reach the obligations set out within the United Nations sustainable development goals.

Our study investigates how small-scale fisheries’ interests are represented in Swedish fisheries governance from a social justice perspective, linking these findings to the transnational case of the Baltic Sea Advisory Council, which connects Swedish and EU fisheries governance. In neither the Swedish national system nor the Baltic Sea Advisory Council are small-scale fisheries justly represented; rather, the small-scale sector is persistently marginalized and disempowered. The importance of small-scale fisheries for society is highly accentuated on the meta-level of governance, namely in principles and policy documents, while existing institutions, as shown through results from a national survey, are inappropriately designed and malfunctioning for small-scale fisheries’ interests and participation. Furthermore, our results show that fishers have negative views and experiences about existing governance institutions and processes. We conclude that innovations are needed to improve social justice for small-scale fisheries in Sweden and the EU. If small-scale fishers are to contribute towards shaping their own futures, they must be able to influence decision-making and policies that affect their daily lives.KeywordsFisheries governance Institutionalized injustice Small-scale fisheries Sweden

Many individuals who have mental disorders often report negative experiences of a distinctively epistemic sort, such as not being listened to, not being taken seriously, or not being considered credible because of their psychiatric conditions. In an attempt to articulate and interpret these reports we present Fricker’s concepts of epistemic injustice (Fricker, 2007, p. 1) and then focus on testimonial injustice and hermeneutic injustice as it applies to individuals with mental disorders. The clinical impact of these concepts on quality of care is discussed. Within the clinical domain, we contrast epistemic injustice with epistemic privilege and authority. We then argue that testimonial and hermeneutic injustices also affect individuals with mental disorders not only when communicating with their caregivers but also in the social context as they attempt to reintegrate into the general society and assume responsibilities as productive citizens. Following the trend of the movement of mental health care to the community, the testimonies of people with mental disorders should not be restricted to issues involving their own personal mental states.

COVID-19 and Thai marine capture fishery in the Gulf of Thailand: A case of small-scale fishery versus industrial fishery

The vast developmental opportunities offered by the world's coasts and oceans have attracted the attention of governments, private enterprises, philanthropic organizations, and international conservation organizations. High-profile dialogue and policy decisions on the future of the ocean are informed largely by economic and ecological research. Key insights from the social sciences raise concerns for food and nutrition security, livelihoods and social justice, but these have yet to gain traction with investors and the policy discourse on transforming ocean governance. The largest group of ocean-users - women and men who service, fish and trade from small-scale fisheries (SSF) - argue that they have been marginalized from the dialogue between international environmental and economic actors that is determining strategies for the future of the ocean. Blue Economy or Blue Growth initiatives see the ocean as the new economic frontier and imply an alignment with social objectives and SSF concerns. Deeper analysis reveals fundamental differences in ideologies, priorities and approaches. We argue that SSF are being subtly and overtly squeezed for geographic, political and economic space by larger scale economic and environmental conservation interests, jeopardizing the substantial benefits SSF provide through the livelihoods of millions of women and men, for the food security of around four billion consumers globally, and in the developing world, as a key source of micro-nutrients and protein for over a billion low-income consumers. Here, we bring insights from social science and SSF to explore how ocean governance might better account for social dimensions of fisheries.

Securing access to resources and markets for small-scale fisheries is one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 14b). Yet, judging from the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries, endorsed by FAO member states in 2014, all of the SDGs are relevant for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries. Small-scale fisheries people are vulnerable, marginalized from decision-making, and can be excluded from physical spaces, resulting in food insecurity and poverty. In this chapter, we are particularly interested in SDG 16, which aims to create justice and strong institutions. Drawing on the interactive governance framework and existing academic literature on social justice, we argue that small-scale fisheries in the Blue Economy need more than just institutions. Justice must also permeate the ongoing interactions between small-scale fisheries actors and other stakeholders, including governments, and be integral to the process and outcome of marine spatial planning where small-scale fisheries have high stakes.KeywordsBlue JusticeSustainable Development GoalsSSF GuidelinesMarine spatial planningGovernance ordersSmall-scale fisheriesInstitutionsMarine Spatial Planning

Small-scale fisheries in Nigeria, sub Saharan Africa operate in the context of a limited and broken infrastructure such as good roads, pipe borne water, public hospital and epileptic power supply. The fishers consist of Indigenous peoples and migrants from neighboring West Africa countries operating inland, creeks and lagoon, and marine waters usually not beyond the 5 nautical miles. Direct employment is highly gendered, with male children being introduced to fishing activities early in their life and women working mainly in secondary employment. Stakeholder relationships are characterized by limited interactive governance. The national government has adopted the SSF Guidelines, but implementation remains surreptitious without a national strategic plan to guide implementation and invariably promote sustainable small-scale fisheries in the country. Perceptions of fishers and related institutions of justice were examined from oil and gas-related pollution, piracy, Illegal Unregulated and Unreported activities, and competition for space. Suffering of the fisher may be complicated further in the envisaged transition to the Blue Growth and Blue Economy agendas. Government and public service institutions at federal or state levels as organizations to help promote fisheries management and governance and deal with injustice to the small-scale fishers were examined. The abilities of these institutions to prevent injustice and defend fishers’ interests in a full-blown Blue Growth economy are discussed. This chapter offers suggestions for consolidating the resilience of small-scale fisheries against injustice and necessary institutional reforms that must take place prior to the onset of the Blue Growth agenda, and the implementation of the SSF Guidelines.KeywordsSSF GuidelinesPerceptionJusticeFisheries CommissionGovernance ordersBlue JusticeInstitutionsEquity

Gender equality research in the context of small-scale fisheries is still in its early stages. The recent endorsement of the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines, and its inclusion of gender equality and other human rights principles, captured the interest of many small-scale fisheries scholars from across many disciplines. However, legal research on small-scale fisheries remains scarce. In this chapter, I examine key gender and justice research by a variety of fisheries scholars from a socio-legal perspective. I examine how fisheries gender researchers approach gender equality while identifying gaps and issues that could be enhanced by incorporating legal theories and methodologies. I draw on feminist legal theories and methodologies, as well as critical race theories, to address gaps in fisheries gender equality research and highlight the benefits and opportunities that such cross-discipline work may create. I develop a Gender + Race Assessment Matrix, which would enable fisheries scholars to engage in a more thorough analysis of existing fisheries polices and aid them to recommend more gender-conscientious interventions. This matrix can also inform the making of new policies that aimed at combating injustices and consistent with Blue Growth and Blue Economy objectives.KeywordsSSF guidelinesHuman rightsGender equalityFeminist legal theoryCritical race theory