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Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR) AISSR

Dr J.M. (Maarten) Bavinck

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
GPIO : Governance and Inclusive Development
Area of expertise: Fisheries governance, coastal zone development, livelihood/wellbeing studies, legal pluralism, South Asia 
Photographer: Bastiaan Heus
Visiting address
  • Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
Postal address
  • Postbus 15629
    1001 NC Amsterdam
Contact details
  • Profile

    Maarten Bavinck is professor emeritus in the Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies (GPIO) of the University of Amsterdam and a member of the Governance and Inclusive Development programme group. He also held a chair in coastal resource governance at the Norwegian Fisheries College of the Norges Arktisk Universitet in Tromso, Norway.

    Key interests

    • Fisheries governance
    • coastal zone development
    • livelihood/wellbeing studies
    • legal pluralism
    • South Asia

    Maarten is specialized in the governance of capture fisheries, particularly in the South, and is especially interested in the fate of small-scale fisher peoples. His own fieldwork is concentrated in South Asia (India and Sri Lanka). Maarten's theoretical perspectives are interactive governance, legal pluralism, and political ecology. He has authored two monographs and several edited volumes, as well as a large number of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. 

    Maarten is founder and co-director of the social-science Centre for Maritime Studies (MARE), and founding associate editor of the journal Maritime Studies. He also co-edits (with Svein Jentoft) the MARE Publication Series, published by Springer. He has recently served as president of the International Commission on Legal Pluralism (2008-2015), and was director of CERES Research School for International Development in the Netherlands from 2016 to 2018. Maarten now serves as chairperson of the International Collective in Support of  Fishworkers (ICSF).

    Among other research activities, he was the principal investigator of the REINCORPFISH project (NWO/WOTRO 2010-2016) that focused on the resolution of fisheries conflicts in South Asia and South Africa. Maarten also led the Fish4Food project (NWO/WOTRO 2016-2020) that investigates opportunities for improving low-price fish chains in facilitating urban food security (Ghana and India). He has played leading roles in many other projects funded by the European Commission, NWO/WOTRO, ESRC (UK), ICSSR (India), and SSHRC (Canada). His teaching activities (undergraduate/graduate/PhD)  were concentrated in the International Development Studies programmme of the University of Amsterdam, in which he took responsibility for courses on environmental and marine geography, governance, and South Asia studies.  

    Also see clip 'the fascination of...Maarten Bavinck' (Dutch and English versions), or the clip on the REINCORPFISH project, click on buttons below

    English version
    Dutch version
  • Publications

    2025

    2024

    • Ahwireng, A. K., Bavinck, M., Onumah, E. E., Pouw, N., & Nunoo, F. K. E. (2024). Post-Harvest Travels of Marine Fish: How Small Fish Food Systems Variously Support Food Security and Nutrition in Coastal and Inland Cities in Ghana. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 115(3), 418-438. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12626 [details]
    • Bavinck, M. (2024). Forum-shopping and shopping forums in Indian purse seine fisheries: an analysis of the upper ranges of a sociolegal law process. Legal Pluralism and Critical Social Analysis, 56(3), 497-516. https://doi.org/10.1080/27706869.2024.2341354 [details]
    • Bavinck, M., Scholtens, J., & Fabinyi, M. (2024). Maximum sustainable employment: Adding to the beacons of wild fisheries governance. Fish and Fisheries, 25(4), 619-629. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12829 [details]

    2023

    • Partelow, S., Schlüter, A., Ban, N. C., Batterbury, S., Bavinck, M., Bennet, N. J., Bleischwitz, R., Blythe, J., Bogusz, T., Breckwoldt, A., Cinner, J. E., Glaser, M., Govan, H., Gruby, R., Hatje, V., Hornidge, A.-K., Hovelsrud, G. K., Kittinger, J. N., Kluger, L. C., ... Villasante, S. (2023). Five social science intervention areas for ocean sustainability initiatives. npj Ocean Sustainability, 2, Article 24. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-023-00032-8 [details]
    • Subramanian, K., Bavinck, M., Scholtens, J., Hapke, H. M., & Jyotishi, A. (2023). How Seafood Wholesale Markets Matter for Urban Food Security: Evidence from Chennai, India. European Journal of Development Research, 35(3), 579-601. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-022-00519-z [details]

    2022

    2021

    • Gupta, J., Bavinck, M., Ros-Tonen, M., Asubonteng, K., Bosch, H., van Ewijk, E., Hordijk, M., Van Leynseele, Y., Lopes Cardozo, M., Miedema, E., Pouw, N., Rammelt, C., Scholtens, J., Vegelin, C., & Verrest, H. (2021). COVID-19, poverty and inclusive development. World Development, 145, Article 105527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105527 [details]
    • Jyotishi, A., Scholtens, J., Viswanathan, G., Gupta, P., & Bavinck, M. (2021). A tale of fish in two cities: consumption patterns of low-income households in South India. Journal of Social and Economic Development, 23(2), 240–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40847-020-00141-x [details]
    • Rice, W. S., Sowman, M. R., & Bavinck, M. (2021). Informing a conservation policy-praxis disjuncture: A ‘commons’ perspective to tackling coastal-marine community-conserved area implementation in South Africa. Biological Conservation, 261, Article 109296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109296 [details]

    2020

    2019

    • Jentoft, B., & Bavinck, M. (2019). Reconciling human rights and customary law: legal pluralism in the governance of small-scale fisheries. Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, 51(3), 271-291. https://doi.org/10.1080/07329113.2019.1674105 [details]
    • Scholtens, J., Song, A. M., Stephen, J., García Chavez, C., Bavinck, M., & Sowman, M. (2019). Transdisciplinary Engagement to Address Transboundary Challenges for Small-Scale Fishers. In R. Chuenpagdee, & S. Jentoft (Eds.), Transdisciplinarity for Small-Scale Fisheries Governance: Analysis and Practice (pp. 321-340). (MARE Publication Series; Vol. 24). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94938-3_17 [details]
    • Vivekanandan, V., Bavinck, M., & Sajith, S. (2019). Good practices of civil society organizations in supporting small-scale fisheries in South-east India. In L. Westlund, & J. Zelasney (Eds.), Securing sustainable small-scale fisheries: sharing good practices from around the world (pp. 149-176). (FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper; No. 644). FAO. http://www.fao.org/3/CA3041EN/ca3041en.pdf [details]

    2018

    2017

    2016

    • Bavinck, M. (2016). The role of informal fisher village councils (ur panchayat) in Nagapattinam District and Karaikal, India. In S. V. Siar, & D. C. Kalikoski (Eds.), Strengthening organizations and collective action in fisheries: Towards the formulation of a capacity development programme (Vol. 41, pp. 383-404). (FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Proceedings; Vol. 41). FAO. [details]
    • Colenbrander, D., & Bavinck, M. (2016). Exploring the role of bureaucracy in the production of coastal risks, City of Cape Town, South Africa. Ocean & Coastal Management, 150, 35-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.11.012 [details]
    • Menon, A., Bavinck, M., Stephen, J., & Manimohan, R. (2016). The political ecology of Palk Bay fisheries: geographies of capital, fisher conflict, ethnicity and nation-state. Antipode, 48(2), 393-411. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12181 [details]

    2015

    2014

    2013

    • Bavinck, M., & Kooiman, J. (2013). Applying the governability concept in fisheries: explorations from South Asia. In M. Bavinck, R. Chuenpagdee, S. Jentoft, & J. Kooiman (Eds.), Governability of fisheries and aquaculture: theory and applications (pp. 131-153). (MARE publication series; No. 7). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6107-0_8 [details]
    • Bavinck, M., Johnson, D., Amarasinghe, O., Rubinoff, J., Southwold, S., & Thomson, K. T. (2013). From Indifference to Mutual Support: A Comparative Analysis of Legal Pluralism in the Governing of South Asian Fisheries. European Journal of Development Research, 25(4), 621-640. https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2012.52 [details]
    • Chuenpagdee, R., Jentoft, S., Bavinck, M., & Kooiman, J. (2013). Governability - new directions in fisheries governance. In M. Bavinck, R. Chuenpagdee, S. Jentoft, & J. Kooiman (Eds.), Governability of fisheries and aquaculture: theory and applications (pp. 3-8). (MARE publication series; No. 7). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6107-0_1 [details]
    • Kooiman, J., & Bavinck, M. (2013). Theorizing governability: the interactive governance perspective. In M. Bavinck, R. Chuenpagdee, S. Jentoft, & J. Kooiman (Eds.), Governability of fisheries and aquaculture: theory and applications (pp. 9-30). (MARE publication series; No. 7). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6107-0_2 [details]
    • Scholtens, J., & Bavinck, M. (2013). South Indian Trawl Fisheries - Assessing Their Governability. In M. Bavinck, R. Chuenpagdee, S. Jentoft, & J. Kooiman (Eds.), Governability of fisheries and aquaculture: theory and applications (pp. 177-199). (MARE publication series; No. 7). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6107-0_10 [details]
    • Stephen, J., Menon, A., Scholtens, J., & Bavinck, M. (2013). Transboundary dialogues and the ‘politics of scale’ in Palk Bay fisheries: brothers at sea? South Asia Research, 33(2), 141-161. https://doi.org/10.1177/0262728013487633 [details]

    2012

    2011

    • Amarasinghe, O., & Bavinck, M. (2011). Building resilience: fisheries cooperatives in southern Sri Lanka. In S. Jentoft, & A. Eide (Eds.), Poverty mosaics: realities and prospects in small-scale fisheries (pp. 383-406). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1582-0_17 [details]
    • Bavinck, M. (2011). The megaengineering of ocean fisheries: a century of expansion and rapidly closing frontiers. In S. D. Brunn (Ed.), Engineering earth (pp. 257-273). Springer. http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-90-481-9919-8 [details]
    • Bavinck, M. (2011). Wealth, poverty, and immigration: the role of institutions in the fisheries of Tamil Nadu, India. In S. Jentoft, & A. Eide (Eds.), Poverty mosaics: realities and prospects in small-scale fisheries (pp. 173-191). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1582-0_9 [details]
    • Bavinck, M., & Vivekanandan, V. (2011). Conservation, conflict and the governance of fisher wellbeing: analysis of the establishment of the Gulf of Mannar National Park and Biosphere Reserve. Environmental Management, 47(4), 593-602. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-010-9578-z [details]
    • Eide, A., Bavinck, M., & Raakjær, J. (2011). Avoiding poverty: distributing wealth in fisheries. In S. Jentoft, & A. Eide (Eds.), Poverty mosaics: realities and prospects in small-scale fisheries (pp. 13-25). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1582-0_2 [details]
    • Jentoft, S., Eide, A., Bavinck, M., Chuenpagdee, R., & Raakjær, J. (2011). A better future: prospects for small-scale fishing people. In S. Jentoft, & A. Eide (Eds.), Poverty mosaics: realities and prospects in small-scale fisheries (pp. 451-469). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1582-0_20 [details]
    • Thorpe, A., Bavinck, M., & Coulthard, S. (2011). Tracking the debate around marine protected areas: key issues and the BEG framework. Environmental Management, 47(4), 546-563. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-011-9632-5 [details]
    • Thorpe, A., Failler, P., & Bavinck, J. M. (2011). Marine protected areas (MPAs) special feature: editorial. Environmental Management, 47(4), 519-524. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-011-9664-x [details]

    2009

    • Bavinck, M., & Woodman, G. R. (2009). Can there be maps of law? In F. von Benda-Beckmann, K. von Benda-Beckmann, & A. Griffiths (Eds.), Spatializing law: an anthropological geography of law in society (pp. 195-218). (Law, justice, and power). Ashgate. [details]
    • Jentoft, S., Bavinck, M., Johnson, D. S., & Thomson, K. T. (2009). Fisheries co-management and legal pluralism: How an analytical problem becomes an institutional one. Human Organization, 68(1), 27-38. http://sfaa.metapress.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&issn=0018-7259&volume=68&issue=1&spage=27 [details]

    2008

    • Bavinck, M., & Johnson, D. (2008). Handling the legacy of the blue revolution in India - social justice and small-scale fisheries in a negative growth scenario. American Fisheries Society Symposium, 585-599. [details]
    • Bavinck, M., & Salagrama, V. (2008). Assessing the governability of capture fisheries in the Bay of Bengal - a conceptual enquiry. Journal of Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies, 7(1), Article 5. http://www.journal-tes.dk/vol_7_no_1/no_5_Maarten.pdf [details]
    • Bavinck, M., de Klerk, L., van Dijk, D., Rothuizen, J. V., Blok, A. N., Bokhorst, J. R., van Haastrecht, E. K., van de Loo, T. J. C., Quaedvlieg, J. G. J., & Scholtens, J. (2008). Time-zoning for the safe-guarding of capture fisheries: a closed season in Tamil Nadu, India. Marine Policy, 32, 369-378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2007.08.007 [details]
    • Kooiman, J., Bavinck, M., Chuenpagdee, R., Mahon, R., & Pullin, R. (2008). Interactive governance and governability: an introduction. Journal of Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies, 7(1), Article 2. http://www.journal-tes.dk/vol_7_no_1/no_2_%20jan.html [details]

    2024

    2020

    2015

    2014

    2013

    2011

    • Bavinck, M., & Jentoft, S. (2011). Subsidiarity as a guiding principle for small-scale fisheries. In R. Chuenpagdee (Ed.), World small-scale fisheries: contempary visions (pp. 311-320). Eburon. [details]
    • Le Tissier, M., Roth, D., Bavinck, M., & Visser, L. (2011). Integrated coastal management: from post-graduate to professional coastal manager: a teaching manual. Eburon. [details]

    2010

    • Johnson, D., & Bavinck, M. (2010). Social justice and fisheries in India: social justice and fisheries governance: the view from India. FAO. [details]

    2023

    • Bavinck, M., & Franz, N. (2023). Towards “good” governance of small fish in food systems. In M. Bavinck, M. Ahern, H. M. Hapke, D. S. Johnson, M. Kjellevold, J. Kolding, R. Overå, T. Schut, & N. Franz (Eds.), Small fish for food security and nutrition (pp. 127-146). (FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper; Vol. 694). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc6229en [details]
    • Bavinck, M., Ahern, M., Hapke, H. M., Johnson, D. S., Kjellevold, M., Kolding, J., Overå, R., Schut, T., & Franz, N. (Eds.) (2023). Small fish for food and nutrition security. (FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper; Vol. 694). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://doi.org/10.4060/cc6229en [details]

    2022

    • Menon, A., Bavinck, J. M., Lawrence, T., Rao, N., Muthusankar, G., Balasubramanian, D., Arunkumar, A. S., Bhagath Singh, A., Senthil Babu, D., & Bautès, N. (2022). Coastal Transformation and Fisher Wellbeing: Perspectives from Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, India. Madras Institute of Development Studies. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7503034

    2020

    2011

    2009

    2008

    2017

    Media appearance

    Journal editor

    • Bavinck, J. M. (editor) (2001-2021). MAST : maritime studies (Journal).

    Talk / presentation

    • Gupta, J. (invited speaker) & Bavinck, J. M. (invited speaker) (27-6-2015). Inclusive development and coastal development, MARE Academic Conference: People and the Sea VIII.
    • Gupta, J. (invited speaker) & Bavinck, J. M. (invited speaker) (25-6-2014). Towards an elaborate theory on legal pluralism and Aquatic Governance, EADI conference, Bonn.
    • Bavinck, J. M. (invited speaker) & Gupta, J. (invited speaker) (25-6-2014). Pluralism in Freshwater and Marine Governance: A Challenge for Earth System Governance Architecture, EADI conference.
    • Bavinck, J. M. (invited speaker) (22-10-2012). Caste law and the regulation of ocean fisheries, Distinguished lecturer seminar, South Asia Institute, Columbia University, New York.
    • Bavinck, J. M. (invited speaker) (19-10-2012). Legal pluralism in South Indian fisheries: a typology of interplays, Asian Studies Seminar, Center for Asian Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder.

    Others

    • Bavinck, M. (member of programme committee) & Scholtens, J. (member of programme committee) (25-6-2019). MARE People and the Sea X Conference, Amsterdam. MARE People and the Sea X Conference (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
    • Bavinck, J. M. (organiser), Parthasarathy, D. (organiser), Corradi, G. (organiser) & Amien, W. (organiser) (14-12-2015 - 16-12-2015). International conference of the Commission on Legal Pluralism, in collaboration with IIT-Bombay, Mumbai, India. Normative Interfaces of Globalization and High-Tech Capitalism: Legal Pluralism and the Neo-Liberal Turn (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
    • Bavinck, J. M. (organiser) & Brown, A. (organiser) (24-6-2015 - 26-6-2015). MARE People and the Sea Conference, Amsterdam. MARE conference 'Geopolitics of the Oceans' (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
    • Bavinck, J. M. (organiser) (5-8-2013 - 10-8-2013). International conference 'Evolving Humanity, Emerging Worlds' - section legal pluralism, Manchester, UK. Chair organizing committee (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
    • Bavinck, J. M. (organiser) (26-6-2013 - 28-6-2013). International conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Organizer of the People and the Sea VII - Maritime Futures (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
    • Bavinck, J. M. (organiser) (25-6-2013 - 26-6-2013). CERES Summer School 2013, Amsterdam. Member of organizing committee (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
    • Bavinck, J. M. (organiser) & Nencel, L. S. (organiser) (25-6-2012 - 26-6-2012). CERES Summerschool, Amsterdam. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES: A CHALLENGE FOR THE FUTURE? (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
    This list of publications is extracted from the UvA-Current Research Information System. Questions? Ask the library or the Pure staff of your faculty / institute. Log in to Pure to edit your publications. Log in to Personal Page Publication Selection tool to manage the visibility of your publications on this list.
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