Superyachts: Luxury, Tranquillity, and Ecocide. By GregorySalle, Cambridge: Polity Press. 2024, pp. 122. ISBN: 987‐1‐5095‐5995‐4

From time-to-time thinkers and practitioners of sociological analysis debate whether it makes sense to see the bigger world through smaller cases? Can we find an exotic minor and constitute it as sociological window into the larger structures of society? May we indeed think of niches of human practice as a sociological prism or perhaps even “sociological fractal geometries” containing “the big picture in the small case”? Are there social phenomena of such a character that their minute manifestations reveal bits of the larger social body as when a fractal geometry contains the big picture within itself? This book about Superyachts by Grégory Salle sits squarely at this conversational dispute and the author carefully states that this is not really about the yachts “in themselves” but what they signify and symbolize. The are to be understood as a “telling aspect of the world” (p. xi) or a “measurement device of sorts” (p. 8) as the author states. In a small but condensed essay of 122 pages we are introduced to the curious, glamorous, obscure and some would say perverse world of extreme luxury and conspicuous consumption manifested in leisure boats over 30 m of length (one of the objective criteria for defining a superyacht). Another criterion is the presence of professional crews to service their rich passengers (as a rule of thumb often by the ratio of 3:1 or even 4:1 crew to passengers). Also, the capacity to move freely across international zones (p. 14) is a defining feature. So size, staff, and (hyper)mobility are the defining characteristics of this “sociological fractal” giving insights to the unevenness of Capital. In 18 well-written and easy-to-read chapters Salle covers this strange and for most of us inaccessible (but highly conspicuous) world of extreme luxury. As the subtitle gives away, Salle is critical and takes us through facets reaching from the environmental degradation of natural coral habitats, over absurd numbers of fuel consumption, to horrific working conditions for the crews servicing these floating castles. For example, as stated here: “… on average, a superyacht generates as much carbon dioxide as more than 200 American cars and that the total fleet of the 300 biggest superyachts in active use generates annual emissions of almost 630 million pounds (around 285,000 tons) of carbon dioxide, as much therefore, of not more, as many entire countries, such as Burundi” (p. 69). We get to see how the business ecology of superyacht production and consumption has its own platforms for exchange, and very powerful lobbying voices working against what they perceive as “constraining state regulation” (e.g., the “International Council of Marine Industry Associations”, ICOMIA, p. 71). As such Superyachts is sociologically relevant and constitutes an important set of insights. However, one may ponder on the load given to a specific artefact and the human and non-human assemblages entangling this odd phenomenon. Are we able to see the “social facts” here and not just another example of a “politics of envy”? Salle”s analysis is sharp but also somewhat shortsighted, so we do not get to the bottom of the matter as it were. One reason might be that this analysis and body of work grows out of mainly French sources. Obviously, there nothing wrong with French data let along French sociology or other academic expressions. However, the choice of cases and the newspapers sources (of which there is plenty) suggest a French bias. Moreover, it is striking that the book contains only a few references to the now rather well established “mobilities turn”. Here I am in particular thinking of the work of John Urry who with his “Sociology beyond Society. Mobilities for the 21st Century” in 2000 gave voice to a whole new way of thinking about “the social”. A way of thinking about sociality as mediated and constituted by mobility and immobility (of goods, vehicles, bodies, information, data etc.). A way of thinking drawing threads back to Georg Simmel and his understanding of society as associations and forward to Bruno Latour”s ideas of symmetric relations between humans and artefacts. The analysis of Salle is based in a different set of literatures, and one that I think would have benefitted from engaging with the “mobilities turn” in general. And to be even more specific this book on superyachts is conspicuously unaware of Urry”s most relevant book for this topic: “Offshoring” from 2014. I realize it is an easy mark to say that this book does not connect to this and that literature. However, I don”t consider the mobilities literature tangential or exotic to this theme and I do not find Urry”s “Offshoring” easy to avoid if one wants to understand the story of superyachts. The empirical examples of tax evasion and the subversive practice to avoid nation-state regulatory frameworks as well as understanding this in light of territorialization processes and stratified mobility, would all fall in place had Salle engaged with “Offshoring”. Coming back to the text and its ways of conveying the story I already pointed out that it is well-written. It is easy to read, and I really mean this as a compliment in a world of convoluted academic narration. However, I think Salle oversteps or overdo the ironic and at time sarcastic distance in the book. But that of course depends on the interpretative framework the reader brings to the table. I already suggested that this is an “essay” meaning that we are dealing with a different and “lighter” form of academic communication. Add to this a very substantial non-academic list of sources and furthermore an ironic tone that I (even as a relative liberal and openminded sociologist) have a hard time stomaching, we are heading for something outside the sociological mainstay genre. This may not necessarily be a bad thing, but for this reader it blurs the message and compromises with sociological clarity. I do not disapprove of critical essays and at times there might be a need to draw on the sarcastic dividend. But for me this becomes over the top with this book. Granted this might be considered a detail given the importance of the matter. But perhaps precisely because of the graveness of the matter of concern one should stay a bit closer to calm wordings. Add to this the technique of writing in 1st person from the point of view of the yachts, then you at least have an unusual textual makeup. I fully understand and sympathise with the technique of “letting things talk” and I have seen remarkable good literary performances utilizing this technique. But it is difficult and require good literary skills. If the reader is interested in a recommendable read where this technique of 1st person artefact narration goes through as a key feature, I would recommend the book “The Anatomy of a Soldier” by Harry Parker from 2016. In here a former Iraq- and Afghanistan war veteran has written a story where the artefacts that assembles a soldier “speak” for themselves in a deeply captivating story of human/non-human relationship. In Salle”s book this technique of 1st person artefact narration is somewhat unevenly distributed without a clear pattern or idea (it seems). At the end of the day, I enjoyed reading Salle”s account of the curious world of superyachts even though I raised a few critical pointers. One should remember that the hallmark of a good read might not necessarily be confirmation of one”s expectations. But I do miss a shaper sociological discipline, a drier prose, and not least an interaction with the mobilities turn literature. However, as an interesting example of “sociological fractal” thinking, I do not hesitate recommending the book.