1 Waves of transformation - surfers and ocean environments in Bali Paper presented at the combined ASAANZ/AAS Conference Queenstown, New Zealand November 12, 2014 By Thomas Wright “Those who identify themselves as surfers navigate through social and natural fields, through structuring social forces at work that are augmented and reinforced by an embodied sense of a communion with nature” (Krause 2012:38). To begin, this paper will introduce what anthropological texts on Balinese relations to water. This is followed by three case studies that seek to demonstrate how anthropologists have understood surfers to be liminal pilgrims, local heroes and enacting masculine territories. In my discussion I will raise questions around the social processes of surfing which are enacted in a liminal space and in relation to an outside Other. The Other in this context might include non- Balinese surfers, non-surfers and even non-human entities such as the ocean itself. Being a first year student and not having conducted fieldwork, this paper will describe case studies from the literature and suggest a case for further investigation. The key question of my project is: “does surfing shape human attitudes to ocean environments?” This was developed out of questions from the environmental literature on human relationships to environment such as suggested by anthropologists Tim Ingold (2000), Marcus Barber (2011), Tanya King (2005) and Steven Lansing (1991:117). Surfing, the way it is defined in this research is the act of riding an ocean wave on a board (see Martin and Assenov 2012). The aim of this paper is to raise questions about surfers’ identities and their relations to oceans and is most concerned with raising questions instead of answering them and to show the need for future research.