Extraction and the Ocean "Frontier": Dispossession, Exclusion, and Resistance in Namibia.

The perceived neglect of the ocean to state and industry actors has seen frontier rhetoric emerge as it is rendered visible under the Blue Economy agenda. By framing the marine scape as underutilised, capitalist expansion is being legitimised. Drawing on the case of Namibia, I argue that the afterlives of colonialism and apartheid are being repurposed to present the ocean as a Blue Economy opportunity. The physical disconnection of citizens from the marine scape, and the dominance of fishing and mining industries, has been used by state and development actors to present it as empty of socio‐cultural relations. However, to declare Namibia's coasts and ocean as forgotten unless articulated through capital is to conceal that they have been labelled "no‐go" zones. I argue that, by considering exclusions and looking beyond proximity in discussions of equity and representation, the marine scape is articulated by civil society, to elucidate forms of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]