Fluid territories: Rethinking state territorialisation in Palk Bay,South Asia |
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| Authors: | Johny Stephen Ajit Menon |
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| Institution: | 1. Johny Stephen, Amsterdam Institute of Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 15718, 1001 NE, Amsterdam, Netherlands;2. Ajit Menon, Madras Institute of Development Studies, 79 Second Main Road, Gandhinagar, Adyar, Chennai – 600 020, India |
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| Abstract: | The study objective was to gain a better understanding of the transboundary fishing conflict between Indian trawl fishers and Sri Lankan small-scale fishers in Palk Bay using a relational approach to territoriality. The authors employed different ethnographic methods, including open, structured, and semi-structured interviews, and performed a media analysis in order to understand the everyday practices of Indian trawl fishers within the wider geopolitical context of a 30-year war in neighbouring Sri Lanka. The relational approach moves away from seeing cross-border fishing merely as an act of counter-territorialisation. The results revealed that the cross-border fishing underlying the crisis has largely resulted from a complex network of changing relationships between on the one hand Indian trawl fishers and India, and on the other hand Sri Lankan state agencies and Sri Lankan fishers, resulting in a porous international maritime boundary. The authors conclude that this in turn has resulted in a fluid international maritime boundary line. |
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| Keywords: | Jemima Garcia-Godos Catriona Turner |
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