Representation and Power in Ocean Conservation Documentaries: A Decolonial Analysis

Steven Mana‘oakamai Johnson and Angelo O. Villagomez
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Steven Mana‘oakamai Johnson: Ashley School of Global Development and the Environment, Cornell University, USA
Angelo O. Villagomez: Center for American Progress, USA

Ocean and Society, 2026, vol. 3

Abstract: Popular ocean documentaries play a crucial role in shaping public understanding of the ocean polycrisis. This article offers a critical review of popular ocean documentaries, examining their portrayal of the complex ocean polycrisis—encompassing climate change, biodiversity loss, and unfettered capitalism. While these films achieve widespread viewership and raise awareness of critical environmental issues, this analysis argues that they frequently operate through a colonial lens, concurrently marginalizing the crucial perspectives and experiences of communities most proximate to these crises. By often prioritizing Western scientific narratives, individualistic solutions, and visually arresting but potentially decontextualized imagery, these documentaries risk obscuring the systemic impacts of historical and ongoing colonialism and neocolonialism on ocean ecosystems and the livelihoods of Indigenous communities, small‐scale fishers, and other coastal populations. This article analyzes the films’ narrative structures, visual rhetoric, and the selection (or omission) of expert voices to demonstrate how they implicitly and explicitly frame the ocean crisis and its potential solutions. We identify persistent colonial patterns across the corpus and, drawing on these findings, propose five principles for decolonial ocean documentary filmmaking—centering frontline voices, upholding historical accountability, practicing epistemic justice, maintaining structural analysis, and prioritizing relational storytelling over spectacle—demonstrating that more just and inclusive ocean narratives are not only necessary but achievable.

Keywords: decolonizing methodology; documentary; ocean imaginaries; ocean justice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:ocesoc:v3:y:2026:a:11626

DOI: 10.17645/oas.11626

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