It’s not just a Blue Economy moment…

Abstract

Winder and Le Heron (2017) advocate for geographers to engage directly and critically with the Blue Economy and to remove the ‘disciplinary framings’ from which the notion of the Blue Economy has emerged. While endorsing Winder and Le Heron’s call for human geography to engage with debates about the Blue Economy, I argue that the lack of critical engagement within the geographical community with respect to the Blue Economy has not been imposed by disciplinary framings. Instead I ask Winder and Le Heron to clarify how a social and cultural critique of the Blue Economy will expand the current knowledge base of our oceans and seas. I also ask whether a critique of extensive literature within economics, planning and governance on the ocean resource have been the building blocks for the critical analysis of the Blue Economy provided by Winder and Le Heron.