Five commentaries on ‘Waves Dangerous, Domesticated and Diagnostic’ plus Stefan Helmreich’s response

Abstract This review article engages with Stefan Helmreich’s paper ‘Waves dangerous, domesticated, and diagnostic’ as well as his ‘A Book of Waves’. It offers a set of critical commentaries on key themes raised in these works unpacking the role of wave science, technology and power in various contexts: On treating waves as an outside enemy to be fought by hard barriers between land and water, or as objects of commodification when models functions as ways to claim and export knowledge thereby overriding other forms of knowing waves and protecting coasts; On the role of the state in coastal governance in the Global South and on transdisciplinary approaches dealing with the systemic nature of coastal risks and resilience; On comparison and integration of modern wave science with indigenous knowledges; On the importance of social besides physical oceanography; On practices of attuning not only to the daily tidal schedule and coastal weather, but also to the oceanic rhythms, tempos, and shifts that materialize the ocean’s potentials and risks, and on waves as carriers of meaning. The review paper ends with a response by Helmreich.