Did pirates advance democracy? David Graeber’s last book makes the case

Published on: January 29 / 2023

Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia review by Sam Dean, Los Angeles Times

In his book, “Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia,” the point isn’t the swashbuckling — though some swashes do indeed buckle — but the real story of antiauthoritarianism, gendered economics and direct democracy behind a legendary 18th-century pirate province. The bleeding edge of the Enlightenment’s democratic revolution, in this telling, wasn’t to be found in a Parisian guillotine but rather in the fragile consensus forged over long meetings on a distant island.

Read the article on davidgraeber.org

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