What is piracy? Is it: outright theft, a critique of exploitative pricing and labour systems, a culture outside of law? All societies define a boundary between sanctioned and illegitimate ownership, and this course considers the role of piracy in mediating those struggles. We explore these conflicting perspectives on piracy in a range of historical and contemporary settings in order to ask broader questions about the cross-cultural role of property, ownership, marginalization, and security today. In developing an anthropology of piracy, the course emphasises power, identity, and resistance as key thematics. From histories of slave revolts to the hacker collective ‘Anonymous,’ we track new political configurations and the rebels they engender. A vital aspect of the course involves applying anthropological theories of value to everyday forms of economic governance in families, communities, states and global institutions. Students will consider wider issues of sovereignty, intellectual property, race, colonialism, gender and sexuality, morality, mobility, and globalization.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Develop an advanced understanding of the cultural and
historical transformation of property and interpret its variation across
different societies.
- Draw upon and provide a theoretically informed analysis
of primary sources. Apply advanced concepts in political, legal, and economic
anthropology to real world examples of piracy.
- Identify major issues with modern property and piracy to
reflect on their impact in anthropological theory and areas of social life
including work, kinship, gender, morality, mobility, and globalization.
- Write essays that develop an original argument about struggles over property, and their relationship to social issues of power, identity, and resistance.
Indicative Assessment
Discussion leader, tutorial 10% [LO 1]
Two Applied practicums 1,500 words each (20%) [LO 2,3]
Biography of a "pirated" property 1,000 words (25%) [LO 3,4]
Annotated Bibliography 1,000 words (10 items, 10%) [LO 1,3]
Final Writing Project (3,000 words 35%) [LO 3,4]
In response to COVID-19: Please note that Semester 2 Class Summary information (available under the classes tab) is as up to date as possible. Changes to Class Summaries not captured by this publication will be available to enrolled students via Wattle.
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:a) 43 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 12 hours of lectures and 11 hours of tutorials and 20 hours of film screenings and discussions; and
b) 87 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Preliminary Reading
Dawdy, Shannon Lee. "Why pirates are back." Annual Review of Law and Social Science 7 (2011): 361-385.
Dua, Jatin. "A sea of trade and a sea of fish: piracy and protection in the Western Indian Ocean." Journal of Eastern African Studies 7.2 (2013): 353-370.
van Velzen, Diura Thoden. "The world of Tuscan tomb robbers: Living with the local community and the ancestors." International Journal of Cultural Property 5.01 (1996): 111-126.
Coleman, Gabriella. Hacker, hoaxer, whistleblower, spy: The many faces of Anonymous. Verso Books, 2014
Musaraj, Smoki. "Tales from Albarado: The materiality of pyramid schemes in postsocialist Albania." Cultural Anthropology 26.1 (2011): 84-110.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $3570 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $5460 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.