Dear Colleagues,
We hope this correspondence finds you well.
We are delighted to formally announce the publication of the latest special issue of Contexto Internacional, entitled "
Where is the Sea in IR?," which I had the distinct honour of co-editing with Dr Flavia Guerra (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro).
The overarching objective of this Special Issue is to
address a central scholarly lacuna within International Relations (IR) scholarship: the historical and theoretical marginalisation of the oceanic domain. In pursuing this fundamental inquiry—
why and how does the ocean recede from scholarly and political attention?—the assembled contributions collectively prompt a sustained, rigorous examination of two key analytical challenges:
- The specific mechanisms through which IR has historically relegated the oceanic domain to the periphery of its dominant analytical frameworks.
- The subsequent broader political and theoretical implications that stem from this systematic exclusion.
The volume is structurally organised around three distinct, yet interconnected, thematic axes, each seeking to contribute to a deeper engagement with the marine sphere:
- The Marginalisation of the Ocean in IR: Conceptual and empirical explorations of how the sea is actively rendered absent or subordinate within core theoretical debates.
- Complex Entanglements between the Ocean and Ontological Security: Analyses focusing on the relationship between maritime spaces, existential anxieties, and state identity formation.
- Ocean Governance as Regulatory Mechanism and Platform for Political Discourse: Critical assessments of regulatory frameworks and their role in structuring political contestation over the maritime commons.
We sincerely hope that you find the contributions within this volume to be a compelling and theoretically relevant read that stimulates further research and critical reflection within the discipline.
Special Issue: Where is the Sea in IR?
Where is the Sea in International Relations?
Francisco Eduardo Lemos de Matos; Flávia Guerra Cavalcanti
Abstract | Full text
Table of Contents: https://www.scielo.br/j/cint/i/2025.v47n2/
Includes - Addressing 'Maritime Aphasia' in International Relations
Bruno Sowden-Carvalho; Marcelo M. Valença
Between Nuclear Tests and Rising Sea Levels
Beatriz Rodrigues Bessa Mattos
Carl Schmitt on the Move: Spatial Politics and the (political) Sacrifice of the Sea
Francisco Eduardo Lemos de Matos
Thinking Ontological (In)Security with Water: The Place of the Ocean in Boat Migration
Flávia Guerra Cavalcanti
What is the Place of Mar de Timor in Timorese Geopolitics, Culture and Education?
Silvia Garcia Nogueira; Betina Lopes; Ângelo Ferreira; Samuel de Souza Freitas
Fluid Boundaries: Reassessing Maritime Spaces and Nomadic Waves in International Relations Theory
Henrique Campos de Oliveira
The Third Bank of the Sea: Maritime Traces of Constitutive Outside(r)s and International Ontopolitical Lines
Roberto Vilchez Yamato; Gustavo Alvim de Góes
Ocean Governance, Maritime Security, and International Relations
Daniele Dionisio da Silva; Gilberto Carvalho Oliveira
Sailing on Waves beyond National Sovereign Land Borders: On the Crossroads between International Ocean Relations and the Blue Economy
Thauan Santos
Regards,
chico
Francisco Eduardo Lemos de Matos
Doutor em Relações Internacionais pelo IRI/PUC-RIO.
Pesquisador de Pós-Doutorado em Relações Internacionais no IRI/PUC-RIO pela FAPERJ.
Rede IPS Brasil - https://www.ipsbrasil.com/
Lattes: https://lattes.cnpq.br/9338374067089166
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4214-5382
My source: DOINGIPS list - https://www.doingips.org/