#202 Outlaw Ocean – Ian Urbina’s Book is STS1Book for 2024-25 | WeAreSTS

Ian Urbina’s 2019 book, Outlaw Ocean, brilliantly investigates hidden worlds of human activity on the high seas. From modern day pirates and traffickers to gargantuan fishing fleets to “freedom-loving” recluses and entrepreneurs, his stories build on the idea of oceans as lawless spaces well beyond the awareness of most people. He documents extremes of human behaviour. He also describes the extraordinary scale of extraction and exploitation that takes place off shore. In this world, who’s “free” and what are the consequences of “lawless” spaces?

Outlaw Ocean is this year’s selection for the STS1Book programme. In this episode, Dr Michel Wahome talks about why she recommended the book for our community. She points to some of the many ways it can be used to explore key concepts in STS, such as actor-network theory and social-technical  ...