This special issue of darkmatter sets out to examine the complicated and often incongruous cultural meanings assigned to pirates and piracy in the twenty-first century.[1] Debates about piracy have long featured certain telling contradictions. At different times,…
When news of the M/V Maersk Alabama hijacking broke from Western media outlets, Americans scoffed at the notion of a forthcoming “War on Piracy” where the global shipping industry would be at the mercy of young Somalians dressed in second-hand…
As the production of knowledge and information increasingly becomes the guiding force of capitalist expansion, legal structures transform to accommodate the consolidation of wealth and power in the hands of already powerful actors. Consequently, the digital terrain of cyberspace becomes…
“Once upon a Time, Not Long Ago, O…”: The title of the Preface to Kathy Acker’s Pussy, King of the Pirates at first may seem almost as trite as its pirate heroes. Almost, but not quite. Acker’s perverse juxtaposition of…
Introduction[1]
The semantic richness of the word “pirate” – which has been applied indifferently to sea criminals, copyright infringers, and hit-and-run drivers – is based on an assumption to which it seems every person could agree: crimes committed by pirates…
