Category Archives: Pirates

Awkward Seas and Exclusive Economic Zones

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Teo Ballvé

New Left Review‘s new issue has an article by Peter Nolan that surveys the national “territorial” claims over the world’s oceans: “Imperial Archipelagos.” The sea as an awkward political space is one of those hobby interests of mine that may … Continue reading →

Posted in Boundaries, Frontiers, Historical-Geographies, Land, Law, Nation/Nationalism, Pirates, Post-Colonial, Power, Sovereignty, Spatiality, Territory, The Sea, The State | 1 Comment

Off-Shore Data Havens?

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

What’s flat, has two legs, and is capable of stirring international intrigue on the high seas? If you’re thinking “unmanned wave-powered ocean robots,” then you’re close, but (sadly) wrong. No, I’m thinking of the 120-foot by 50-foot platform seven miles … Continue reading →

Posted in Illegality, Law, Nation/Nationalism, Networks, Pirates, Science & Tech., Sovereignty, Territory, The Sea, The State | 2 Comments

Robin Hood: Cultural Politics of the Law

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

An article at Yes! Magazine traces some pop-cultural coordinates around the always-evolving Robin Hood myth. Written by Paul Buhle, the somewhat meandering article is based on his recently published book, Robin Hood: People’s Outlaw and Forest Hero (2011, PM Press). … Continue reading →

Posted in Bandits, Forests, Illegality, Law, Pirates | Comments Off

Salty Geographies

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

A recent post by Andy Davies over at the Antipode Foundation’s blog raises some interesting geographical questions, particularly around labor, in light of the recent Costa Concordia shipwreck. On this blog we’ve noted some of the tricky problems the sea … Continue reading →

Posted in Carl Schmitt, Historical-Geographies, Law, Pirates, Power, Sovereignty, Spatiality, The Sea, The State | Comments Off

Meow: The Politics of Anonymous

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Teo Ballvé

Quinn Norton, a writer with Wired, has published a fascinating three-part series titled, “Anonymous: Beyond the Mask” (Part I, Part II, Part III). She tracks the progressive politicization of Anonymous from its diaper days chatting on 4Chan to #Occupy by … Continue reading →

Posted in #Occupy, Art, Bandits, Critique, Everyday Life, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Law, Networks, Pirates, Science & Tech., Spectacle | 1 Comment

The Mask of ‘Anarchy’

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

An article by Jonathan Jones in the Guardian has been making the rounds and offers some interesting commentary on the proliferation of the V for Vendetta mask at recent #Occupy protests. Coming on the heels of the Oakland General Strike, … Continue reading →

Posted in #Occupy, Bandits, City, Everyday Life, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Law, Networks, Pirates, Power, Spectacle, The State, Violence | 5 Comments

¡General Strike! Oakland Walks

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Today. A General Strike. Oakland will become liberated territory. I will be in Oakland with many many people. I read a great post this morning on what a “General Strike” actually means. The post draws on Walter Benjamin and Rosa … Continue reading →

Posted in #Occupy, City, Dialectics, Elites, Everyday Life, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Pirates, Power, Violence | Comments Off

Geographies of the Outlaw

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

The word “outlaw”—outside of the law—implicitly articulates the intimate relationship between geography and the law. From the perspective of state-makers and capitalists, the groups of outlaws I’m collectively labeling “Motley Crews” (as a shorthand) pose a grave ideological and spatial … Continue reading →

Posted in Bandits, Carl Schmitt, Drugs, Elites, Forests, Frontiers, Gender, Historical-Geographies, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Karl Marx, Land, Law, Michel Foucault, Networks, Pirates, Post-Colonial, Power, Primitive Accumulation, Sovereignty, Spatiality, Territory, Terror, The Body, The Sea, The State, Violence | Comments Off

State Formation as Organized Crime

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Tilly, Charles. 1985. “State Formation as Organized Crime.” In Evans, Peter, Dietrich Rueschemeyer, and Theda Skocpol eds. Bringing the State Back In Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Charles Tilly draws an analogy between organized crime, with its practices of “protection,” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Bandits, Illegality, Law, Pirates, Territory | 1 Comment

Mercenaries, Pirates & Sovereigns

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Thomson, Janice E. 1994. Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. The main task of Janice Thomson’s Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns is to reveal how non-state violence became monopolized in its legitimate form by the state. How did … Continue reading →

Posted in Boundaries, Frontiers, Historical-Geographies, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Law, Pirates, Post-Colonial, Power, Sovereignty, Spatiality, Territory, Terror, The Sea, The State, Violence | 1 Comment