Civil society mobilisation and the politics of deep-sea mining in the Pacific: A case study of the campaign for a moratorium

Deep-sea mining (DSM) is emerging as a new frontier of extractivism. Drawing on critical ethnographic fieldwork in Fiji, the Cook Islands and at the International Seabed Authority, this paper follows Pacific civil society mobilisation against DSM ventures in the region. It argues that these civil society efforts are not monolithic; rather, they span a spectrum of positions grounded in differing risk perceptions, strategic pragmatism, and epistemological understandings of extractivism. Focussing on the call for a DSM moratorium, the paper situates current mobilisation efforts within the longer history of activism in the Pacific. In such light, the moratorium campaign is tied to the region’s historical patterns of resources extraction shaped by colonialism, environmental injustice, and uneven development. More broadly, the analysis contributes to emerging debates on DSM and extractivism and underscores the importance of understanding civil society mobilisation as part of wider contestations over ocean governance, legitimacy, and the possibility of post-extractive futures.