“Debates about piracy have long featured certain telling contradictions. At different times, pirates have been seen as both violent monsters and colourful folk heroes. They have been cast by historians and cultural critics as both capitalist marauders and militant workers fighting for a restoration of the commons. The pirate has become a compelling symbol of freedom: freedom from oppressive work routines; freedom from polite behaviour; freedom from institutional controls; freedom from restrictive property laws; freedom from unjust social conventions surrounding race and gender roles. We now apply the pirate label to an assortment of activities from the formation of transgressive sexual identities to the technology-assisted defiance of copyright law. 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.”

Find the special issue here.