Contesting the Foreshore:
Tourism, Society, and Politics on the Coast
Jeremy Boissevain and Tom Selwyn (Eds.)
Click here to view this book online.
On the 28th of September the second book of the MARE Publication series was presented to Professor Ton Dietz, of the Dutch Research School CERES.
This collection of essays is about tourism and social, political, and economic relations in coastal locations in various parts of the world. The starting point of each chapter is the ethnographic study of one particular place. However, the authors are also concerned with the wider regional, national, and global focus which shape and influence the local economics and societies under review. Although most of the essays focus on European coastline, the book is intended to have implications for other geographical areas.
In most parts of the world, coastal settlements and contexts are changing rapidly and markedly. These contexts are routinely characterized by conflict between different interest groups contesting the ownership and control of the foreshore and its resources. One of the treads running through the volume is that coastal regions are often sites of fishing and related ‘traditional’ activities.
The chapters discuss the relationships between traditional stakeholders, such as fishermen and local residents, and new stakeholders including new residents, second-home owners, tourists and tourism property developers, and fish farm managers as they vie for status, influence, and ultimately for space on the foreshore.
The underlying preoccupation of the volume as a whole is the extent of penetration and transformation resulting from the onward march of capitalism and the market system in the coastal locations studied.
Jeremy Boissevain is Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. Tom Selwyn is Professor of Anthropology at London Metroplolitan University.
