Piracy ― Leakages from Modernity

An anthology by an international list of contributors with interests in postmodernist theory, this book looks at a host of different activities that are all termed “piracy” in English, with a focus on media piracy. The book's ideological framework is that pirate activities represent and mark ways global infrastructure is changing, as well as postcolonial developments. There is some focus on pirate parties in Scandinavia, and the idea that piracy moves from the economic to the political sphere as a response to capitalism. Like most books of postmodernist theory, this one positions itself as a radical challenge to the dominant perspective. In this case, the editors imagine the dominant perspective on piracy is that of the US entertainment industry, which researches piracy in order to stop it, and wishes to stop it because it is a challenge to capitalist corporate profit. The editors suggest that piracy is simply part of everyday life, an easier concept to see positively in a theoretical anthology which deals mainly with pirate media and other information-centered, non-physical and non-violent forms of piracy. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)