Fishing Livelihoods and Social Diversity

Abstract

This chapter shifts scale from Chap. 2 to focus on the local context and analyse the everyday sets of social relationships that frame the lives of those engaged in fishing livelihoods. The broad structural forces of migration, technology and markets along with the wider economy all intersect with local sets of social structures to shape the conditions in which fishing livelihoods operate. Here we present two examples of how different forms of social differentiation interact with fishing livelihoods. In the Western Philippines, class and status intersect with cultural values to generate power relations and hierarchies in different roles associated with fishing livelihoods. In Pacific Island countries, gender norms structure the different types of fishing activities in which men and women are involved. This chapter shifts scale from Chap. 2 to focus on the local context and analyse the everyday sets of social relationships that frame the lives of those engaged in fishing livelihoods. The broad structural forces of migration, technology and markets along with the wider economy all intersect with local sets of social structures to shape the conditions in which fishing livelihoods operate. Understanding how these forms of social relationships-such as class, gender and ethnicity-operate in relation to fishing