MARE People and the Sea X

*panel description and paper abstracts in attachment

Chaired by: Ounanian, K., Phillipson, J., Gustavsson, M. & White, C.

Researching people and the sea: methodologies and traditions
Kristen Ounanian, Madeleine Gustavsson, Jeremy Phillipson & Carole White
Aalborg University, University of Exeter, Newcastle University, University of East Anglia

Through a panel covering four sessions of papers, we aim to take stock of the social science methodologies, roles and traditions for researching people and the sea. Calls for social science research in marine and fisheries contexts have never been more prominent, with social sciences seen as part of the solution for understanding and addressing complex and intractable challenges, whilst also bringing a strategic orientation to natural science perspectives. Social scientists have therefore increasingly shed light onto the often ill-defined social dimensions of the marine environment and fisheries, in a field that has traditionally been heavily framed by the environmental and natural sciences. To date there has been little explicit consideration focused on critically and reflexively exploring the experiences of deploying, innovating or adapting social science methods and approaches within marine and fisheries contexts, or in terms of their combination with other approaches within interdisciplinary research. Therefore, this multi-session panel aims to bring together a variety of epistemological and methodological perspectives from across the (non-economic) social sciences, including the full repertoire of qualitative, mixed and quantitative approaches, to highlight particular challenges and insights gained in researching people and the sea. The eighteen papers in these sessions are divide over four themes:

- Clearing interdisciplinary hurdles
- Refreshing & reinvigorating methods
- Co-production & Co-design
- Experiences from the field: positionality, ethics, and reflection

We have collated papers focused on understanding the interactions between people and the sea through different methods and methodological approaches; the paper submissions represent novel approaches—the successes and failures—and demonstrate reflexivity in marine social science. Papers will be presented in traditional format with discussants.


Session 1: Clearing interdisciplinary hurdles

Methodological fish soup: blending environmental humanities into marine social science research
 Anna Antonova 

Lessons learned for conducting interdisciplinary science to inform offshore renewable energy planning
Tayla ten Brink, Julia Livermore, Tracey Dalton 

Theoretical and methodological perspectives to understand trade relationships within marine systems
Elizabeth Drury O’Neill, Bianca González-Mon &  Sofia Käll