Lecture Series: Coastal Perspectives: The Case for Human / Coastal Shorebird Coexistence: Why the Public Cultures of Shorelines Matter for Equitable Climate Resilience

Bryce DuBois, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of New Haven and Coordinator of the M.A. Program in Marine Policy and Management

Beaches, the foreshore, are legally defined as public land owned by no one. As one of few spaces with such legal protections, they afford coastal communities a uniquely protected public space where the potential for cultural diversity, expression and social sustainability is potentially maintained. And yet, in the 20th Century beaches and coastlines have in some places industrialized and in other places become privatized, commodified, and enclosed for real estate and tourism interests. These forms of privatization have included processes of racial and class marginalization that have enclosed beach spaces for mostly wealthy, white homeowners. This talk looks closely at what is at stake in maintaining public access and fostering social sustainability in beaches and similarly investigates the more recent turn towards valuing coastal ecologies for their role in supporting coastal resilience. I will use the case of Rockaway Beach, NYC, to describe how this socioecological emphasis, what is called post-politization, is not a new turn for public access, but rather continues a trend towards enclosure of these dear public commons. I will conclude with an example of the politics over piping plover protection that is occurring on Rockaway Beach and discuss what can be done to foster more just, equitable climate resilient futures for beach dependent human- and more-than-human-communities.

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