Transforming Coastal Zone Management in New Jersey: The Challenge of Interplay and Fit in Sociotechnical Imaginaries

• In Event: Performing Socio-Technical Imaginaries - II

Abstract

Cascading environmental changes threaten social and ecological wellbeing in coastal regions across the globe; yet, policy and management actions have been insufficient to prevent dangerous climate impacts. In part, this is due to an obdurate sociotechnical imaginary that privileges protecting private property above all else through hard engineering solutions, insurance programs, and disaster recovery efforts. In this paper, I develop the concept of ‘imaginative fit and interplay’ as a strategy for envisioning and enacting systemic and sustainable development changes in coastal regions, such as managed coastal retreat. I argue that more attention needs to be focused on how scientific narratives about the causes and consequences of anthropogenic climate change fit existing cultural senses of belonging and interplay with various political projects of becoming. Sense of belonging refers to how actors situate themselves within broader networks of people, material landscapes, values, beliefs, and narratives. Political projects of becoming, in turn, entail ongoing struggles to change the world for the better by altering prevailing norms, visions, and practices. I apply the framework of sociotechnical imaginaries to ongoing research in coastal New Jersey that explores how actors arguing for incorporating ‘green infrastructures’ and ‘living shorelines’ into coastal management regimes both fit within existing sociotechnical imaginaries as well as articulate and interplay with alternative visions that critically depart from the status quo. I conclude by arguing that political efforts to transform coastal zone management can benefit from including insights from critical and speculative design studies in order to craft resources for enacting vibrant futures.

Author

• David C Eisenhauer, Rutgers University