Future Promises for Contemporary Social and Cultural Geographies of the Sea

Abstract

Abstract Seventy per cent of the Earth’s surface is sea. Yet, until recently social and cultural geographers have failed to pay much attention to this aspect of the world in which we live, with the most notable contributions deriving from historical perspectives. This study examines the work characterising this area of research before outlining possible reasons for the failure of consistent and comprehensive examination of the seas and ships for social and cultural geographers who take a more contemporary focus. The sea has been typically understood as inferior to and marginal from the land and invisible in modern consciousness, yet it is nonetheless a vital space and one that is integral to the workings of the world as we currently know it. This study travels through the ways in which modern‐day examinations of the maritime world are developing before outlining future promises that are surfacing for more contemporary social and cultural geographies of the sea. The study offers an overview of the relationship between social and cultural geography and the sea, contending by way of a conclusion for a greater volume of contemporary work considering maritime spaces to expand and deepen geographic understandings of the watery world.

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