Privatisation from a coastal community perspective

This article explores processes and impacts of privatisation from the perspective of coastal communities, drawing on ideas of governance, rights and the Commons, as well as previous studies of privatisation and the associated phenomenon of ‘grabbing’. The analysis shows how diverse mechanisms of privatisation are reflected in five key dimensions, relating to (a) jurisdictions; (b) the range of rights; (c) magnitude of privatisation; (d) distributional implications; and (e) community perceptions. The practical aspects of these privatisation dimensions are illustrated through three coastal community examples, drawing on several years of participatory research, with various qualitative methods producing a set of insights from community participants. A key result relates to how the community perceives privatisation, which depends less on the generic attributes of privatisation and more on how well the outcomes fit with the community’s underlying values and strategic goals. Accordingly, among the many complexities of privatisation, attention to community perceptions may be especially important, particularly in terms of community reactions to privatisation of different forms. This fits with governance results from elsewhere, and reinforces the need to understand community aspects of the Commons, with implications for the ‘blue economy’ and the future of a possibly privatized ocean.