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On February 23 and 24, 2023, the thematic group Polar and Ocean Politics of the German Political Science Association (DVPW) met at IDOS. Around 20 papers were presented under the heading „Oceans, Poles, North and South“.
More than 30 researchers had registered for the conference. Five panels dealt with ocean sustainability, stakeholders in polar politics, knowledge politics and policies around the poles and oceans, as well as policy issues on German coasts. The contributions looked at oceans and poles as science and economic areas as well as endangered environments. For future meetings, participants also requested contributions on polar and ocean areas as spaces for humanitarian policies and security issues.
Interesting synergies and suggestions for comparative research emerged, among other things, from the synopsis of findings presented regarding vertical interconnectedness of levels of marine and polar politics. For broader political science research, some contributions recommended themselves as fruitful applications and confirmations of political science theories and concepts. Others revealed challenges to established approaches by suggesting categorical differences between terrestrial and marine politics, or by opening new perspectives through imports from disciplines such as human geography, cultural anthropology, and science and technology studies.
©IDOS
All contributions can be understood as a plea for more research on marine and polar politics. The latter are not only becoming increasingly important socially, economically and politically, as recently demonstrated by the appointment of the German government’s Special Representative for the Oceans. They also generate practical demand for research and hold essential insights for the discipline of political science, for example on the generalisability of a purely terrestrial view.
