Utility and Waste, Moralization, and Hybridization: The Inherent Contradictions of Anti-Luxury Sanctions on the Case of Russian-Owned Gigayachts

This chapter addresses the targeted anti-luxury sanctions against Russian individuals in connection with the full-scale war in Ukraine, specifically how the sanctions are justified and enforced with regard to yachts—the ultimate luxury good. Instead of assessing the efficiency of the enforcement or looking for the next loopholes to be fixed, it focuses on the stated motivation of the senders (the sanctioners). The author argues that these sanctions regimes are permeated by the modern Western utilitarian paradigm, where utility and ‘smartness’ are the highest moral values and technocratic expertise the source of moral authority. Through a ‘radical othering’, super-rich Russians are cast as almost ultimate villains whose access to luxurious, wasteful enjoyment must be barred. However, while backed by considerations of utility and shaped as a war on waste, anti-yacht sanctions are so complicated and resource-demanding to enforce that they themselves end up as highly wasteful.