Surfing Between Blue Humanities and Blue Economies in Cantabria, Spain

Introduction

In 2009, Steven Mentz envisioned the urgent, and interrelated discourses of globalization, environmentalism, technology studies, and post colonialism guiding a twenty-first century scholarly trend he termed, "blue cultural studies." Before Mentz's call, scholars such as Philip Steinberg had examined the social construction of the ocean (2001), and since, performances of thalassography, or writing about the sea, have produced groundbreaking research across the humanities including Dan Brayton's Shakespeare's Ocean (2012) and John Gillis' The Human Shore (2012). New ontologies, epistemologies, and narratives that flow through, and frame, oceanic engagements continue to fill important disciplinary gaps and show the deep interconnections between humanistic inquiry and our watery planet. It is still unclear, however, how the blue humanities and its explorations of ocean histories, cultures, and politics can reach beyond academia and help to protect the ocean's liminal zones, including those into which an increasing number of humans enter the water with the intention of riding liquid bands of energy.

This essay suggests that surfing and surf studies, a small but growing field that is always already "blue," can help link and reorient discussions of the blue humanities and the so-called "blue economy." The blue economy, as defined by entities such as the United Nations and the World Bank, suggest the development of policies, laws, and management techniques that balance "improved human wellbeing and social equity" with "reduced environmental risks and ecological scarcities" (Smith-Godfrey 2016, 59). Shipping, fishing, off-shore mining and energy resources all form crucial links in the value chains of the blue economy, yet one of the most visibly impactful areas of the blue economy is coastal tourism, and within this sector, surfable waves generate health, happiness, and a number of political and cultural paradoxes.

Our collaboration developed during "baños" (i.e. surf sessions) near the town of San Vicente de la Baquera on the northern coast of Cantabria, Spain. Our time in the water, in the archive, and with various stakeholder groups and governing bodies has revealed surfing's potential contributions to the humanities. We also recognize that confronting terra-centrism and raising awareness about the contentious histories of reckless shoreline development, over-fishing, dirty shipping, and the plastic pollution will not necessarily merge the blue humanities with the blue economy. The undulating oceanscape, a place we have separately and together floated awaiting the next ridable wave, is constantly in flux; when the wave moment arrives, the curling surface takes a unique shape, like a snowflake. The joy of that fleeting rush of ocean energy has proved popular, even addictive, and led to the explosion of surf culture from its epicenters: Hawai'i, California, and Australia. For the past fifty years, surfing has gone global, and the magnetic, seemingly smooth commune of mind, body, board, and breaking wave has pushed surfers to remote parts of the planet and provided something of a healthy escape from land-locked constraints.

What began as a religious and cultural practice is now a multibillion-dollar industry of clothing, gear, tourism, and competition. Scholars have estimated that the attraction of surfable waves contribute $51.2 billion to the communities surrounding the world's most reliable and accessible surf breaks (McGregor and Wills 2016). The participants of surf culture, surf tourism, and surf branding often seem so fully immersed in their pursuit of these waves that traditional responsibilities and ethical quandaries—including the overwhelming evidence of oceanic catastrophe—seem to dissipate. Which is to not even speak of the role surfing has played in extending colonial influence and capitalist enterprise.

We acknowledge the social, political, and environmental quagmires that intersect our surfing practice and the industries and infrastructures that surround it. We also maintain that any assessment of the ocean's value must include recognition of the oceanscape's heritage and patrimony. The wave is a site of energy transfer and "sea power" that may be factored into management of the blue economy. At the same time, as humanities scholars, we demand there is a difference between the "price" and "value" of surf...