Overview

Coastal Futures explores the profound transformation of our relationship with the world's coasts, as nearly 40 percent of humanity now lives within 100 kilometres of the sea. Moving beyond the traditional view of coasts as simple boundaries between land and water, this book reveals the coast as a diverse, networked landscape shaped by intertidal ecologies, sprawling infrastructures, and everyday practices that reach far beyond the shore. By uncovering the 'coastalisation' of society, the book highlights the growing significance of shores in understanding contemporary life and environmental change. Drawing on rich ethnographic research, the volume challenges traditional notions of the coast as simply a physical object or maritime boundary. Instead, it closely examines the diverse material forms and infrastructural connections that define coastal spaces, envisioning new futures for these vital zones. Coastal Futures argues that a scientific inquiry into the dynamic interplay of society and coastlines is both urgent and essential, encouraging more responsible and imaginative ways of living with and on the coast. Ultimately, the book redeems the coast as a geo-ontological force one that shapes, enables, and constrains the transformative energies of global assemblages, rather than serving as a passive backdrop to human activity.

Full Product Details

Author:   Arne Harms ,  Lukas Ley
Publisher:   University of Toronto Press
Imprint:   University of Toronto Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.001kg
ISBN:  

9781487581640

ISBN 10:   1487581645
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   24 February 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available, will be POD  
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Table of Contents

Introduction: Life Amid the Brackish Lukas Ley and Arne Harms Experimentation: Experiments at the Frontiers of Land and Sea Lukas Ley and Arne Harms 1. Safe, Adaptive, Resilient: A New Urban Coast Stephanie Wakefield 2. Making Models Matter: On “Coastalizing” Ocean Modelling in the Netherlands Jacqueline Ashkin 3. Thinking Like a Coast: The Making of Urban Futures in Semarang Lukas Ley Fortification: ‘Sea Thinking’ and the Coast as Living Shoreline Lukas Ley and Arne Harms 4. Weathering the Sea: The Coast as Crumple Zone Arne Harms 5. Maintaining the Coastline: Earth Work as Infrastructure in Bangkok’s Vanishing Mangroves Eli Elinoff Encounter: How Humans and Non-Humans Live, Work, and Meet in the ‘Brackish’ Lukas Ley and Arne Harms 6. Cultural Configurations in Cycles: Making Sense and Making Use of a (Mystical) Beach Judith Schlehe 7. Estrangement and Reclaiming in the Thane Creek: Fisher Archives for Reimagining Mumbai's East Coast Lalitha Kamath 8. Environmental Talk from the Abyss – How Scuba Divers Relate to Coastal Futures in Denmark Rasmus Rodineliussen

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Author Information

Arne Harms is an environmental anthropologist and senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology. Lukas Ley is an environmental anthropologist and head of the research group S.AND at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology.

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