All you need is love: Coastal fisheries conflicts in Sweden and the human needs theory

• Fishing is ubiquitous to spaces where human beings settle near an aquatic environment. Fisheries conflicts are highly diverse and complex arising at different levels of human interactions and in different forms. At a basic level, conflicts in fisheries can be classified according to their severity, longevity and the kind of parties involved. Conflicts involving fisheries can be violent (i.e., wars) and non-violent (i.e. street protests), span for a few years or over generations, and range from regional or transnational conflicts such as the current disputes in the South China Sea, international conflicts like the “cod wars” between Iceland and the United Kingdom, intrastate conflicts like clashes between fishers belonging to different fleets in the Philippines, and inter-personal, concerning for example one fisher and her intermediary. Research on fisheries conflicts has been criticized for its reliance and focus on simplistic approaches in which the (putative) scarcity of fisheries resources is the dominant factor. Such analyses are frequently driven by visions of fishers as “rational economic men,” a perspective that has repeatedly been proven false in fisheries social science. In this paper we adopt an alternative approach to fisheries conflicts, drawing on Bulton´s theory of Basic Human Needs. This theory rests on the premise that conflicts arise when people are denied one or more universal human needs, including needs for recognition and security. We use quantitative and qualitative empirical research with Swedish coastal fishers to demonstrate the utility of this theory in understanding coastal fisheries conflicts.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialantropologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Anthropology (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

fisheries conflicts

basic human needs

Sweden

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