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outcome of this was the production of further binaries – local/global, small-scale/large-scale

and traditional/modern. These binaries have gained traction in sustainability politics.

The central study of this thesis, the tonnara, is no exception. The case study

demonstrates the limiting and enabling forces of an integrated sustainability discourse. It also

ultimately reveals two paradoxes. The first is that sustainability practices were complicit in

transforming the socio-technical configuration of the tonnara to the extent that what

constitutes the tonnara as a distinct cultural system today has been challenged. Yet if the

tonnara had not transformed it was unlikely to exist in the future. The second paradox is

revealed in the context of an appeal to the EU for the tuna traps of the Mediterranean to

receive support based on their ecological and cultural characteristics, and potential as a

source of scientific data to contribute to the management of bluefin tuna stocks. I use this

situation to analyse the compatibility and place of diverse epistemologies and ontologies, and

ultimately the compatibility of the project of sustaining tuna and sustaining a tuna fishery. I

conclude that these paradoxes highlight the importance of defining the boundaries of culture

and the limits of tradition and transformation. Thus this thesis develops a framework that

deepens our understanding of the social formation and function of sustainability and

addresses challenges of defining and sustaining cultures.

iv