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[ecrea] Call for Chapters - Piracy: Leakages from Modernity

Wed Nov 09 22:18:57 GMT 2011




   Call for Chapters

   *Piracy: Leakages from Modernity*
   A book on Piracy edited by Martin Fredriksson and James Arvanitakis

   'Piracy' is a concept that seems everywhere in the contemporary
   world. From the big screen with the dashing 'Jack Sparrow', to the
   dangers off the coast of Somalia; from the claims by the Motion
   Picture Association of America that piracy funds terrorism, to the
   political impact of pirate parties in countries like Sweden and
   Germany. While the spread of piracy provokes responses from the
   shipping and copyright industries, the reverse is also true: for
   every new development in capitalist technologies, some sort of
   'piracy' moment emerges.

   This is maybe most obvious in the current ideologisation of Internet
   piracy where the rapid spread of so called Pirate Parties is
   developing into a kind of global political movement. While the
   pirates of Somalia seem a long way removed from Internet pirates
   illegally downloading the latest music hit or the European
   Parliament, it is our assertion that such developments indicate a
   complex interplay between capital flows and relations, late
   modernity, property rights and spaces of contestation. That is,
   piracy seems to emerge at specific nodes in capitalist relations
   that create both blockages and leaks between different social actors.

   The issue of piracy, then, seems to capture a broader malaise in the
   developments of late capitalist modernity. As capital relations
   intensify, there seems to emerge zones of piracy, which lead to
   demands for greater enclosure. While some of these are seen as a
   political response such as the Pirate Party, others represent
   alternatives to capitalist relations such as the new commons
   movement. Further, other forms of piracy are endemic of those 'left
   behind': be it the Somali pirates or the settlements of squatters
   (or land pirates) that emerge throughout India. For many, piracy is
   merely a way to avoid paying for movies and songs, while others see
   it as a backlash against the enclosure of the intellect such as
   copying textbooks or developing generic drugs.

   Piracy can thus be a matter of mere entertainment but it can also
   represent a zone outside of capital relations or a leakage of
   modernity. This is no way meant to romanticise the contemporary
   pirate: rather we want to highlight the complex nature of both
   capital relations and the reactions and counter-reactions that follow.

   These various aspects of piracy form the focus for this book,
   preliminary entitled Piracy: Leakages from Modernity. It is meant to
   be a collection of texts that takes a broad perspective on piracy
   and attempts to capture the multidimensional impacts of piracy on
   capitalist society today. The book is edited by James Arvanitakis at
   the University of Western Sydney and Martin Fredriksson at Linköping
   University, Sweden, and published by Litwin Press, USA. It is open
   for recently unpublished articles from all academic disciplines and
   we particularly welcome contributions by young and emerging
   scholars. Possible subjects of interest could for instance be:


   . The history of copyright and piracy -- particularly outside of the
   Western world
   . Piracy and copyright: the contestation over the public/private sphere
   . The enclosure of the contemporary commons
   . Piracy and development: the textbook trade
   . Globalisation, copyright and piracy
   . The ideology of piracy
   . The cultural figure of the pirate
   . Somali piracy: the new bad guys or a reaction to failed modernity?
   . Indian land claims and piracy
   . Biopiracy and claims over indigenous knowledge
   . Piracy in China and/or developing economies
   . The Pirate Party: Kids having fun or alternatives to copyright?
   . Piracy and terrorism?
   . Piracy and gender
   . Black threat and white nemesis: The colour of piracy

   If you want to contribute to this book please send an abstract of no
   more than 1000 words to Martin Fredriksson
   ((martin.fredriksson /at/ liu.se) <mailto:(martin.fredriksson /at/ liu.se)>) or
   James Arvanitakis ((j.arvanitakis /at/ uws.edu.au)
   <mailto:(j.arvanitakis /at/ uws.edu.au)>). Deadline for abstracts is
   *_December 7_* and if your abstract is accepted deadline for full
   articles will be March 1. Publication is preliminary scheduled for
   December 2012.

   */James Arvanitakis, PhD
   /*
   Senior Lecturer - School of Humanities and Languages
   Head of Program - Dean Scholars
   Research member - Centre for Cultural Research
   Member of the Ally Program for GLBIT students
   Fellow - Centre for Policy Development

   www.jamesarvanitakis.net
   <https://email.uws.edu.au/owa/redir.aspx?C=b8a0230cbcb44c06b284e6f5777c2892&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jamesarvanitakis.net>


   University of Western Sydney
   Rm UG05, Building U
   Kingswood Campus
   Ph: +61-47360391
   Mob: +61-438-454-127
   www.uws.edu.au
   <https://email.uws.edu.au/owa/redir.aspx?C=b8a0230cbcb44c06b284e6f5777c2892&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.uws.edu.au>


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