Decolonization and International Law: Putting the Ocean on the Map

Abstract

During the decolonization period, the order of the ocean changed as remarkably as that of land. Yet, the developments in the law of the sea usually receive less prominent consideration. In this short essay, I examine firstly the ways in which literatures in history and international law engage with the sea, and the changes it underwent during decolonization. Secondly, with the understanding that the law of the sea consolidated an extractive imaginary of the ocean, I suggest that the making of this law nevertheless offers insights into the contingencies and counter-currents of the decolonization moment. Among other things it reveals fluid political geographies, alternative models within extractivism, and divergent understandings of epistemic community. Their flickering and foreclosures are well worth further study; particularly as unsettling our understandings of oceanic lines becomes necessary in the present times.