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Who gets ‘booked’: Super-Surveillance & the case of Ali Dizaei

Nirmal Puwar — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:37:10 +0000

Could it be that racialized bodies who speak out of turn and engage in the renegade act of whistle blowing, especially risk feeling the cold wrath of administrative controls mangled in the terms of misconduct and professional integrity. Codes of…

‘You are not welcome here’: post-apartheid negrophobia and real aliens in Blomkamp’s District 9

Henriette Gunkel — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:11:29 +0000

When District 9 was released...the film was an immediate box office hit...This was much to the surprise of critics, reviewers and bloggers, who seemed astonished...that a science fiction film with this impact could originate from South Africa.

Editorial Notes: Pirates and Piracy – Material Realities and Cultural Myths

Andrew Opitz — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:55:13 +0000

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,…

Revolution Bootlegged: Pirate Resistance in Nigeria’s Broken Infrastructure

Jason Crawford — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:45:43 +0000

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…

Digital Pirates and the Enclosure of the Intellect

Irmak Ertuna — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:40:15 +0000

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…

Where’s the Booty?: The Stakes of Textual and Economic Piracy as Seen Through the Work of Kathy Acker

Paige Sweet — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:35:16 +0000

“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…

Life Under the Jolly Roger: Reflections on Golden Age Piracy – Interview with Gabriel Kuhn

Nora Räthzel — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:30:07 +0000

In November 2009, PM Press released Gabriel Kuhn’s Life Under the Jolly Roger: Reflections on Golden Age Piracy, a study analyzing the most legendary pirate era from ethnographic, sociological and political angles. Gabriel Kuhn is a writer and translator who…

Hostis humani generis. History of a multi-faceted word

Salvatore Poier — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:25:44 +0000

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…

Atlantic Orientalism: How Language in Jefferson’s America Defeated the Barbary Pirates

Angela Sutton — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:20:37 +0000

“In this work, I have most attempted a full description of the many hellish torments and punishments those piratical sea-rovers invent and inflict on the unfortunate Christians who may by chance unhappily fall into their hands…”^[1] wrote John Foss, an…

Voyage of the Black Joke: Piracy and Gallows Humor in an Era of Primitive Accumulation

Andrew Opitz — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:15:21 +0000

In 1827 there was a bloody mutiny aboard the slave ship Defensor de Pedro sailing from Africa to Brazil. The mutiny was successful and the leader of the revolt, a Galician sailor turned pirate named Benito de Soto, reportedly renamed…