“Take only photos, leave only bubbles”. Transformation of environmental ethics and scuba diving practices in Greece

Title : “Take only photos, leave only bubbles”. Transformation of environmental ethics and scuba diving practices in Greece

Abstract:

This presentation provides a historical-sociological analysis of the practices of recreational scuba diving and its relationship with fishing. Beginning with a national case study, Greece, the presentation analyzes the gradually evolving global institutional regulations of this form of underwater recreational activities and its gradual detachment from fishing. Based on historical and sociological research on diving in Greece, the presentation examines the stages of institutionalizing diving as a recreational practice on a global scale, from the end of World War II to the present day, and how these are reflected in Greece. The research is based on two traditions: the phenomenological approach to underwater multisensory embodied experience and tourism studies. The three main research questions that the presentation answers are:

(a) how scuba diving historically evolved as a leisure activity, distinct from similar practices of amateur or professional fishing,

(b) how the underwater experience was conceptually formed as a leisure activity, functioning as a moral component of the relationship with the underwater self and with the underwater nature.

(c) how a morality of “non-fishing” developed for recreational scuba diving, within the context of an increasingly intensifying sensitivity towards nature.

The process of initially turning it into a sport and subsequently into a tourist attraction created a moral dynamic that devalued the perception of underwater life as an edible resource and transformed it into a moral mirror of the contemporary ecological crisis.

Biography:

Dr. Manolis Tzanakis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Crete. He holds a background in journalism from Athens and a degree in sociology from the University of Crete. He is received his doctorate from the Department of Sociology of the University of Crete. His academic pursuits focus on the sociology of mental health and sea leisure, primarily through qualitative research methods. Dr. Tzanakis has published extensively in Greek, French, and English and has been an active participant in international conferences. Additionally, he has served as a reviewer for various journals and conferences and has edited four collective volumes on diverse subjects ranging from the interplay of art and psychiatry to the ethical dimensions of medical practices and the lived experiences in leisure and tourism. He is also the author of three monographs, including a recent English publication titled Scuba Diving Practices in Greece: A Historical Ethnography of Technology, Self, Body, and Nature, by Palgrave Macmillan.