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Piratenverlichting
De Verlichting begon niet in Europa. Aan het eind van de zeventiende eeuw vestigde zich een bonte bende zeerovers op Madagaskar. Terwijl men in de Franse salons de basisprincipes van vrijheid, gelijkheid en broederschap besprak, brachten deze piraten duizenden kilometers verderop levendige, fantasierijke experimenten met zelfbestuur in de praktijk.
In Piratenverlichting wekt David Graeber deze vergeten gemeenschappen tot leven – vol Malagassische intriges en piratenkoningen wier macht zich niet verder uitstrekte dan hun eigen paleis. Hij onthult daarmee de niet-Europese oorsprong van wat wij als klassiek ‘westers’ denken beschouwen en bewijst dat piraten – verborgen onder de mythologie van geweld, risico en wetteloosheid – er heldere democratische principes op na hielden.
Piratenverlichting is het resultaat van Graebers vroege veldwerk en staat aan de basis van zijn internationale bestsellers Schuld en Het begin van alles. Zijn unieke oeuvre levert een boeiender, inclusiever en geëmancipeerder beeld van de mensheid op, dat wijst op nieuwe, hoopvolle mogelijkheden voor de toekomst.
In Piratenverlichting wekt David Graeber deze vergeten gemeenschappen tot leven – vol Malagassische intriges en piratenkoningen wier macht zich niet verder uitstrekte dan hun eigen paleis. Hij onthult daarmee de niet-Europese oorsprong van wat wij als klassiek ‘westers’ denken beschouwen en bewijst dat piraten – verborgen onder de mythologie van geweld, risico en wetteloosheid – er heldere democratische principes op na hielden.
Piratenverlichting is het resultaat van Graebers vroege veldwerk en staat aan de basis van zijn internationale bestsellers Schuld en Het begin van alles. Zijn unieke oeuvre levert een boeiender, inclusiever en geëmancipeerder beeld van de mensheid op, dat wijst op nieuwe, hoopvolle mogelijkheden voor de toekomst.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 24, 2023
430 people are currently reading
8218 people want to read
About the author
David Graeber
106 books5,143 followersDavid Rolfe Graeber was an American anthropologist and anarchist.
On June 15, 2007, Graeber accepted the offer of a lectureship in the anthropology department at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where he held the title of Reader in Social Anthropology.
Prior to that position, he was an associate professor of anthropology at Yale University, although Yale controversially declined to rehire him, and his term there ended in June 2007.
Graeber had a history of social and political activism, including his role in protests against the World Economic Forum in New York City (2002) and membership in the labor union Industrial Workers of the World. He was an core participant in the Occupy Movement.
He passed away in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On June 15, 2007, Graeber accepted the offer of a lectureship in the anthropology department at Goldsmiths College, University of London, where he held the title of Reader in Social Anthropology.
Prior to that position, he was an associate professor of anthropology at Yale University, although Yale controversially declined to rehire him, and his term there ended in June 2007.
Graeber had a history of social and political activism, including his role in protests against the World Economic Forum in New York City (2002) and membership in the labor union Industrial Workers of the World. He was an core participant in the Occupy Movement.
He passed away in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 392 reviews
December 21, 2022
I don’t know which was less likely: a new book by the late, great David Graeber, or a new book on pirates (of all things) by David Graeber. But there it was and I grabbed it. As usual, I was not disappointed. In Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia, Graeber uses northeast Madagascar as an example of complex societies being influenced by the egalitarian philosophies of 17th century western pirates. This is something only a David Graeber could tackle. Successfully.
Pirates were the talk of the whole world in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They were written up, romanticized and made into legends. They stole ships and made them into pirate battleships. They hid their loot all over the world, because it was very difficult to change it into cash. But the most important thing, at least for this book, is that they ran egalitarian societies both onboard and onshore when they tried to settle down. David Graeber spent two years in Madagascar, studying the numerous societies and the island’s history. This is the story of how they influenced each other.
It’s a short book (as Graeber books go). It was meant to be an essay in a collection of them, but it was too long. But also too short for a real book, so it languished until now (though it was published in French four years ago). It reveals the intensity Graeber applied to his anthropological side. He was an anthropology professor at the London School of Economics until his death at the age of 59 three years ago. And a big egalitarian.
Naturally, history books are not very forthcoming for the kind of detail Graeber insisted on. The most important such book is the biography of a legendary pirate that Graeber challenges from every angle. The grains of truth in it take considerable thought to distill. He concludes: “So the first real ethnographic accounts we have of Madagascar are really notes written by a spy in order to allow a con man to better fabricate accounts of his non-existent exploits.” To which I would add: In a nonexistent country called Libertalia. Good luck drawing conclusions from that. But Graeber could and did.
After some rousing text on pirates settling in Madagascar – as many as several thousand did, he says – the book turns its focus to the natives for most of the rest. The Malagasy lived in tribes, extended families really. Every village was independent. They were forever forming alliances and breaking them, going to war and pledging loyalty to each other. But they were also quite egalitarian compared to most other societies, then or now. There were the self-appointed kings, and everyone else. Some had three levels of the highest ranks, but most were simply a king and his people. Kings got removed, and intrigue brought new ones to the fore.
The pirates had an enduring effect on them. The natives immediately welcomed them and absorbed them by marriage. Pirates were valued assets because they came on huge ships from exotic foreign lands, were apparently very rich, somewhat educated, and mostly white – all of which made them stand out. And they represented international trade, the most valuable trait of all. Scheming women (women carried out most of the commerce but none of the politics) could and did marry them and made them king. So pirates settled into villages all over the northeast quarter of the island. “Each local group came to have their own local class of stranger-princes, or, as I’ve termed them, ‘internal outsider,’ who were foreigners to their Malagasy neighbors, but Malagasy to foreigners.”
The book is even more focused, however. Because just off the east coast of Madagascar is a long slim parallel island called Sainte-Marie, a microcosm of villages, tribes, politics and philosophies. Pirates hid in the coves and ventured onshore to trade. Graeber’s story then uses a framework of one man, Ratsimilaho, who became king at a very young age, proving himself not so much a warrior but as an organizer. He managed to assemble a confederacy called Betsimisaraka that endured for over thirty years. Thirty years of peace and stability, egalitarianism, and even respect. Complaints were handled by ad hoc committees. Punishments were relatively mild and sentences respected throughout the land. It was the same structure pirates employed on their ships, where captains held their rank by approval of the crew, committees managed all aspects of the voyage, loot was split up fairly, and life was not oppressive. The exact opposite of the lives they left behind in England or France or Spain.
There are lots of rumors but no certainty over Ratsimilaho’s family, how much of a role pirates played, where and how he was educated and what his influences were. But by the age of twenty, he was king and consolidating a whole confederacy. And unfortunately, his plans to pass it all on to his children failed totally. A worthwhile story in itself.
Malagasy wars were fought over trade, or broken promises. Graeber says “While most of the strategy of the war concentrated on maintaining or disrupting supply lines—making it, effectively, continuous with trade—actual combat was classically heroic, full of individual exploits, duels, exchanges of personal challenges and insults, much as one would expect to find in a Homeric, Icelandic, or Maori epic.” Battles would stop while the warriors witnessed an epic match between the greatest from each side. Oaths were made to the effect that once this war is over I will swear loyalty to you, or after this is over our peoples will unite. It was the stuff of myths.
Eventually, the pirates simply disappeared, having been absorbed by their new families. Madagascar is no longer a paradise of equality. It has been in a killer drought for years, and the only real equality is that most suffer the same way in a still largely agrarian society where cattle are the most valuable possession, and the most expensive to maintain.
As usual with David Graeber, the research is phenomenal. The details are impressive. The analysis is sterling. He manages to gain perspective on a complex island nation that does not have a written history, but innumerable tiny villages and outposts, each representing independent peoples. That they actually appreciated mixed marriages and valued the children produced by them, that they controlled the pirates and drove them off if they abused their privilege, and had heroic cultures based on word of honor - is all very utopian. If anything, this book proves it can be done, even with pirates.
David Wineberg
(Pirate Enlightenment, David Graeber, January 2023)
If you liked this review, I invite you to read more in my book The Straight Dope. It’s an essay collection based on my first thousand reviews and what I learned. Right now it’s FREE for Prime members, otherwise — cheap! Reputed to be fascinating and a superfast read. And you already know it is well-written. https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Dope-...
Pirates were the talk of the whole world in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They were written up, romanticized and made into legends. They stole ships and made them into pirate battleships. They hid their loot all over the world, because it was very difficult to change it into cash. But the most important thing, at least for this book, is that they ran egalitarian societies both onboard and onshore when they tried to settle down. David Graeber spent two years in Madagascar, studying the numerous societies and the island’s history. This is the story of how they influenced each other.
It’s a short book (as Graeber books go). It was meant to be an essay in a collection of them, but it was too long. But also too short for a real book, so it languished until now (though it was published in French four years ago). It reveals the intensity Graeber applied to his anthropological side. He was an anthropology professor at the London School of Economics until his death at the age of 59 three years ago. And a big egalitarian.
Naturally, history books are not very forthcoming for the kind of detail Graeber insisted on. The most important such book is the biography of a legendary pirate that Graeber challenges from every angle. The grains of truth in it take considerable thought to distill. He concludes: “So the first real ethnographic accounts we have of Madagascar are really notes written by a spy in order to allow a con man to better fabricate accounts of his non-existent exploits.” To which I would add: In a nonexistent country called Libertalia. Good luck drawing conclusions from that. But Graeber could and did.
After some rousing text on pirates settling in Madagascar – as many as several thousand did, he says – the book turns its focus to the natives for most of the rest. The Malagasy lived in tribes, extended families really. Every village was independent. They were forever forming alliances and breaking them, going to war and pledging loyalty to each other. But they were also quite egalitarian compared to most other societies, then or now. There were the self-appointed kings, and everyone else. Some had three levels of the highest ranks, but most were simply a king and his people. Kings got removed, and intrigue brought new ones to the fore.
The pirates had an enduring effect on them. The natives immediately welcomed them and absorbed them by marriage. Pirates were valued assets because they came on huge ships from exotic foreign lands, were apparently very rich, somewhat educated, and mostly white – all of which made them stand out. And they represented international trade, the most valuable trait of all. Scheming women (women carried out most of the commerce but none of the politics) could and did marry them and made them king. So pirates settled into villages all over the northeast quarter of the island. “Each local group came to have their own local class of stranger-princes, or, as I’ve termed them, ‘internal outsider,’ who were foreigners to their Malagasy neighbors, but Malagasy to foreigners.”
The book is even more focused, however. Because just off the east coast of Madagascar is a long slim parallel island called Sainte-Marie, a microcosm of villages, tribes, politics and philosophies. Pirates hid in the coves and ventured onshore to trade. Graeber’s story then uses a framework of one man, Ratsimilaho, who became king at a very young age, proving himself not so much a warrior but as an organizer. He managed to assemble a confederacy called Betsimisaraka that endured for over thirty years. Thirty years of peace and stability, egalitarianism, and even respect. Complaints were handled by ad hoc committees. Punishments were relatively mild and sentences respected throughout the land. It was the same structure pirates employed on their ships, where captains held their rank by approval of the crew, committees managed all aspects of the voyage, loot was split up fairly, and life was not oppressive. The exact opposite of the lives they left behind in England or France or Spain.
There are lots of rumors but no certainty over Ratsimilaho’s family, how much of a role pirates played, where and how he was educated and what his influences were. But by the age of twenty, he was king and consolidating a whole confederacy. And unfortunately, his plans to pass it all on to his children failed totally. A worthwhile story in itself.
Malagasy wars were fought over trade, or broken promises. Graeber says “While most of the strategy of the war concentrated on maintaining or disrupting supply lines—making it, effectively, continuous with trade—actual combat was classically heroic, full of individual exploits, duels, exchanges of personal challenges and insults, much as one would expect to find in a Homeric, Icelandic, or Maori epic.” Battles would stop while the warriors witnessed an epic match between the greatest from each side. Oaths were made to the effect that once this war is over I will swear loyalty to you, or after this is over our peoples will unite. It was the stuff of myths.
Eventually, the pirates simply disappeared, having been absorbed by their new families. Madagascar is no longer a paradise of equality. It has been in a killer drought for years, and the only real equality is that most suffer the same way in a still largely agrarian society where cattle are the most valuable possession, and the most expensive to maintain.
As usual with David Graeber, the research is phenomenal. The details are impressive. The analysis is sterling. He manages to gain perspective on a complex island nation that does not have a written history, but innumerable tiny villages and outposts, each representing independent peoples. That they actually appreciated mixed marriages and valued the children produced by them, that they controlled the pirates and drove them off if they abused their privilege, and had heroic cultures based on word of honor - is all very utopian. If anything, this book proves it can be done, even with pirates.
David Wineberg
(Pirate Enlightenment, David Graeber, January 2023)
If you liked this review, I invite you to read more in my book The Straight Dope. It’s an essay collection based on my first thousand reviews and what I learned. Right now it’s FREE for Prime members, otherwise — cheap! Reputed to be fascinating and a superfast read. And you already know it is well-written. https://www.amazon.com/Straight-Dope-...
January 9, 2024
”Let us tell, then, a story about magic, lies, sea battles, purloined princesses, slave revolts, manhunts, make-believe kingdoms and fraudulent ambassadors, spies, jewel thieves, poisoners, Devil worship, and sexual obsession that lies at the origins of modern freedom.
Sounds like one hell of a tale, doesn’t it? Especially coming from David Graeber, whose brilliant mind toyed with ideas in the most playful of ways to arrive at startling possibilities about major questions. I thought I had a sure bet winner when I started this book. I was wrong.
Pirate Enlightenment started out strong, with great promise. (See opening quote above.) It continued with fun and provocative passages, giving great hope for another brilliant, outsider, Graeber take:
”The toothless, or peg legged buccaneer hoisting a flag of defiance against the world, drinking and feasting to a stupor on stolen lute, fleeing at the first sign of serious opposition, leaving only tall tales and confusion in his wake, is perhaps just as much a figure of the Enlightenment as Voltaire, or Adam Smith, but he also represents a profoundly proletarian vision of liberation, necessarily violent and ephemeral.”
So where did it go wrong? Graeber set out to write a long essay on a specific subject, as he described here:
”This is not, however, primarily a book about the romantic appeal of piracy. It is a work of history, informed by anthropology — an attempt to establish what actually happened on the Northeast coast of Madagascar at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, when several thousand pirates made that place their home, and to make a case, that in a broader sense, Libertalia did exists, and that it could indeed be considered, in a sense, the first enlightened, political experiment.”
Graeber admitted that he was essentially sensationalizing to draw in readers to this niche subject:
”In describing this as a proto-Enlightenment political experiment of course I’m being intentionally provocative, but I think a provocation is very much in order here. A self conscious political experiment carried out by Malagasy speakers is exactly the sort of historical phenomenon that, if it did occur, the current historiography would be least able to analyze or even acknowledge.”
So his angle was a bit of misleading advertising. But more importantly, he decided that no one likes a long essay, but that everyone likes a short book, so he expanded his original idea out to book length. Problem is, that the book is longer than this niche subject with minimal historical documentation can bear. In expanding it from essay to book, he created a dull read. For the last two hours of this five hour long audiobook I set the speed at 150% — the audiobook equivalent of skimming.
Everything Graeber described in the opening quote I used is in this book. Well, everything except perhaps the grandiose claim that this is the origins of modern freedom — a point stretched so far that he didn’t come remotely close to proving it. The problem here lies with the rather dull filler he used to pump this book up from an essay to a book. Disappointing.
Sounds like one hell of a tale, doesn’t it? Especially coming from David Graeber, whose brilliant mind toyed with ideas in the most playful of ways to arrive at startling possibilities about major questions. I thought I had a sure bet winner when I started this book. I was wrong.
Pirate Enlightenment started out strong, with great promise. (See opening quote above.) It continued with fun and provocative passages, giving great hope for another brilliant, outsider, Graeber take:
”The toothless, or peg legged buccaneer hoisting a flag of defiance against the world, drinking and feasting to a stupor on stolen lute, fleeing at the first sign of serious opposition, leaving only tall tales and confusion in his wake, is perhaps just as much a figure of the Enlightenment as Voltaire, or Adam Smith, but he also represents a profoundly proletarian vision of liberation, necessarily violent and ephemeral.”
So where did it go wrong? Graeber set out to write a long essay on a specific subject, as he described here:
”This is not, however, primarily a book about the romantic appeal of piracy. It is a work of history, informed by anthropology — an attempt to establish what actually happened on the Northeast coast of Madagascar at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, when several thousand pirates made that place their home, and to make a case, that in a broader sense, Libertalia did exists, and that it could indeed be considered, in a sense, the first enlightened, political experiment.”
Graeber admitted that he was essentially sensationalizing to draw in readers to this niche subject:
”In describing this as a proto-Enlightenment political experiment of course I’m being intentionally provocative, but I think a provocation is very much in order here. A self conscious political experiment carried out by Malagasy speakers is exactly the sort of historical phenomenon that, if it did occur, the current historiography would be least able to analyze or even acknowledge.”
So his angle was a bit of misleading advertising. But more importantly, he decided that no one likes a long essay, but that everyone likes a short book, so he expanded his original idea out to book length. Problem is, that the book is longer than this niche subject with minimal historical documentation can bear. In expanding it from essay to book, he created a dull read. For the last two hours of this five hour long audiobook I set the speed at 150% — the audiobook equivalent of skimming.
Everything Graeber described in the opening quote I used is in this book. Well, everything except perhaps the grandiose claim that this is the origins of modern freedom — a point stretched so far that he didn’t come remotely close to proving it. The problem here lies with the rather dull filler he used to pump this book up from an essay to a book. Disappointing.
January 16, 2023
The author called it a long essay and it either should’ve remained as such or used another author(s) to flesh out ideas into something … more. Left a lot to be desired and really dragged throughout. Think some will find it interesting, but ultimately, should not be a priority for anyone not a massive Graeber fan
March 12, 2023
David Graeber's passing in 2020 was a sad loss, as he was a fascinating thinker and brilliant writer. Thus I was surprised and pleased to find that this short book has been published posthumously. My hopes for it were high, but unfortunately it didn't meet them. While there are some interesting ideas, they aren't explored with the same verve that can be found in his other work. Presumably someone else edited the manuscript and couldn't capture Graeber's unique style, thus it feels incomplete.
The thesis of Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia concerns Madagascar during the Golden Age of Piracy. Graeber argues that the political experiments and radical thought there prefigured the Enlightenment in Europe. This is a fascinating idea and the accounts of interactions between pirates and Malagasy peoples are involving. However the tangle of unreliable sources make it difficult to construct a coherent picture of what was happening - not that this difficulty isn't interesting in itself. Ultimately, though, Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia didn't have much impact. I found Graeber's writing about the Malagsy people more memorable in Possibilities: Essays on Hierarchy, Rebellion, and Desire. I must read The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity soon.
The thesis of Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia concerns Madagascar during the Golden Age of Piracy. Graeber argues that the political experiments and radical thought there prefigured the Enlightenment in Europe. This is a fascinating idea and the accounts of interactions between pirates and Malagasy peoples are involving. However the tangle of unreliable sources make it difficult to construct a coherent picture of what was happening - not that this difficulty isn't interesting in itself. Ultimately, though, Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia didn't have much impact. I found Graeber's writing about the Malagsy people more memorable in Possibilities: Essays on Hierarchy, Rebellion, and Desire. I must read The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity soon.
Read
March 9, 2023This is my first time reading a more focused, less general work of David Graeber in any extended fashion, and when we lost him, we sadly lost one of the best storytellers of our time, someone who was more than happy to step away from the mushmouthed language of so much of the "left" (to the extent that term means anything), and present a straightforward case. To be honest, I don't know much about the subject matter, and as with so many anarchist writings, I question how much Graeber tries to retcon the modern anarchist perspective onto the past, but I was fascinated. It's a subject worth reading more about.
March 14, 2023
This book seems to be an anthropology of pirates who put away their peg legs and eye patches for the family life on the northeast coast of Madagascar.
The evolution of a society without substantive hierarchy (as on a pirate ship) parallels (influences?) the growing spirit of the Enlightenment being discussed in European salons (along with the topic of pirates encouraged by the writing of Defoe under a pseudonym). All very fun. And interesting. I would have liked it if Defoe was actually the allusive pirate, Captain Avery, 'disappearing' in plain sight as a novelist while laundering his booty as royalties, the remaining stash (and his true identity) buried with him in an unmarked grave in Bunhill Field.
The evolution of a society without substantive hierarchy (as on a pirate ship) parallels (influences?) the growing spirit of the Enlightenment being discussed in European salons (along with the topic of pirates encouraged by the writing of Defoe under a pseudonym). All very fun. And interesting. I would have liked it if Defoe was actually the allusive pirate, Captain Avery, 'disappearing' in plain sight as a novelist while laundering his booty as royalties, the remaining stash (and his true identity) buried with him in an unmarked grave in Bunhill Field.
March 10, 2023
Classic Graber, just more concentrated. Rambling, direction or argument not especially clear, full of very specific details on niche topics, many of the interpretations closer to fantasy than historical fact. Also incredibly fun. Honestly, I’m not sure anyone else could make me excited about the history of 18th century north-eastern Madagascar. Would read anything by this guy. Recommended only if you’ve run out of Graber books to read and/or want to know the real story behind Móric Beňovský, the Slovak king of Madagascar, and his importance for Malagasy etnography.
did-not-finish
March 27, 2025It's clear the author is passionate about pirates, but I could not be less interested if I tried. The first 40 pages of this book validated that for me. The only reason I opened this book was because I'd won it in a giveaway and wanted to give it a review in exchange. Sorry David Graeber!
December 20, 2022
Hello all,
A final David Graeber book, what a shame rest in peace. Thank you for everything.
Quick summary: If you’ve read everything else by Graeber, by all means, go ahead. If you haven’t, I strongly recommend starting elsewhere as this work does not have the characteristic academic rigour and clear structure (and life-changing potential) that I believe Graeber’s other work has. It does have his narrative flair however! An enjoyable read nonetheless.
Longer review:
I was not being _that_ dramatic, I can really say Graeber’s changed my life and I was recommended him by someone whose life was also changed by him. His book Debt is essential reading, and if you cannot make it through for whatever reasons, he did a wonderful podcast on BBC radio 4 called ‘promises, promises’. Dawn of everything and debt will be tomes that hopefully change the way society sees itself. An Anarchist anthropology is a great shorter book to start with. I do not recommend starting with this book because it feels unfinished or, Graeber at his most experimental.
This book starts off with the admission that the historical sources for this book are incredibly weak and so we essentially embark on a fictive rendering of what might have happened that is coordinated by Graeber’s politics. Not only that, it does not feel as strongly argued as Graeber usually does and without the academic rigour (since the sources are not present) this leaves Graeber at his most vulnerable and, I believe, a potential for a wilful misrepresentation or misunderstanding of this truly brilliant scholar and activist. I highly recommend starting with his essay ‘there never was a west’, the podcast or, the anarchist anthropology. I say all this because I have the privilege of being one of the first reviewers and so I hope I can contribute a little to having this author heard in the best of light!
This is one of Graeber’s shorter books and even though I read the French translation I can say that his usual tone was still there, always introducing you to forgotten (or dismissed, or even obstructed) peoples, histories and phenomena. He is a true master in this and in this way this book does not disappoint. However, I do get the sense that this book was either unfinished or potentially a book that was always not going to be as good as his others. It does feel like we go on one of his usual interesting tangents with an alternative reading or interpretation except this time, that is the whole structure of the book. Normally it is core history where some important/left out bits are reintroduced for a novel interpretation. Often Graeber is writing book-length extensions of his essay ‘there never was a West’ in an effort to essentially, I’ve been convinced by Graeber, decolonise the ‘enlightenment’. For example, in the Dawn of Everything to show that major influence from outside of ‘the West’ informed our views about democracy, freedom, equality etc (and that they were almost always present in all societies to some extent), in particular Native Americans influence on views effecting Europe after the time of contact. This is roughly sketched at the beginning of the book and Graeber admits that of course the enlightenment values have been used to do horrible things by horrible people, but that does not taint some of those ideas and more importantly some of those values, with proper democracy, can and have been integrated into societies throughout history and throughout the world - they are not a European invention but a human potential.
In this book it feels like we are living a little bit in a fantasy world which I think makes Davids reputation vulnerable. I don’t think this should be a book that his method or academic rigour is judged by and it should be more interpreted as fictive interpretation. And David accepts that, many times early on in the books he says things like “there is no definite way to write about this period” or ‘often there is only one account of a pirate to go by, and where there are two, they often contradict each other’. So, in sum, we are left with a very loose jumping off point where David takes us on a sprawling narrative co-ordinated by his views and, since he is somewhat of a radical in these difficult and conservative times, it is easy to dismiss the arguments in this book. Especially since there is little evidence and a lot of theory and fiction.
The narrative follows the legacy of pirates and the role they played in our collective imagination. We have been fascinated by them but what we are often short of realising is that they were some of the people that potentially directly influenced enlightenment ideals about democracy. It’s an emphasis on potentially for me and I am not entirely swayed by David’s interpretation here. Pirates who settled on land were some of the first to try and start a democracy which included the radical other in the form of local Malagasy’s. Though some pirates did pillage and murder, some sporadically settled down and started working with Malagasy to form societies which were egalitarian and democratic and those tendencies are still with those people on the North East coast of Madagascar today. David is an expert on Madagascar, I guess, since having lived there and learnt the language whilst writing, I believe, his doctoral thesis. I have known that for a long time and always thought David was an expert until I read this book. I have to say this book shows how complex Malagasy society is, how unique it is but also how I think the material does not yield to the conclusions Graeber makes.
Please check out Graeber’s other books or read Kevin’s reviews for a good introduction! Hello all,
A final David Graeber book, what a shame rest in peace. Thank you for everything.
Quick summary: If you’ve read everything else by Graeber, by all means, go ahead. If you haven’t, I strongly recommend starting elsewhere as this work does not have the characteristic academic rigour and clear structure (and life-changing potential) that I believe Graeber’s other work has. It does have his narrative flair however! An enjoyable read nonetheless.
A final David Graeber book, what a shame rest in peace. Thank you for everything.
Quick summary: If you’ve read everything else by Graeber, by all means, go ahead. If you haven’t, I strongly recommend starting elsewhere as this work does not have the characteristic academic rigour and clear structure (and life-changing potential) that I believe Graeber’s other work has. It does have his narrative flair however! An enjoyable read nonetheless.
Longer review:
I was not being _that_ dramatic, I can really say Graeber’s changed my life and I was recommended him by someone whose life was also changed by him. His book Debt is essential reading, and if you cannot make it through for whatever reasons, he did a wonderful podcast on BBC radio 4 called ‘promises, promises’. Dawn of everything and debt will be tomes that hopefully change the way society sees itself. An Anarchist anthropology is a great shorter book to start with. I do not recommend starting with this book because it feels unfinished or, Graeber at his most experimental.
This book starts off with the admission that the historical sources for this book are incredibly weak and so we essentially embark on a fictive rendering of what might have happened that is coordinated by Graeber’s politics. Not only that, it does not feel as strongly argued as Graeber usually does and without the academic rigour (since the sources are not present) this leaves Graeber at his most vulnerable and, I believe, a potential for a wilful misrepresentation or misunderstanding of this truly brilliant scholar and activist. I highly recommend starting with his essay ‘there never was a west’, the podcast or, the anarchist anthropology. I say all this because I have the privilege of being one of the first reviewers and so I hope I can contribute a little to having this author heard in the best of light!
This is one of Graeber’s shorter books and even though I read the French translation I can say that his usual tone was still there, always introducing you to forgotten (or dismissed, or even obstructed) peoples, histories and phenomena. He is a true master in this and in this way this book does not disappoint. However, I do get the sense that this book was either unfinished or potentially a book that was always not going to be as good as his others. It does feel like we go on one of his usual interesting tangents with an alternative reading or interpretation except this time, that is the whole structure of the book. Normally it is core history where some important/left out bits are reintroduced for a novel interpretation. Often Graeber is writing book-length extensions of his essay ‘there never was a West’ in an effort to essentially, I’ve been convinced by Graeber, decolonise the ‘enlightenment’. For example, in the Dawn of Everything to show that major influence from outside of ‘the West’ informed our views about democracy, freedom, equality etc (and that they were almost always present in all societies to some extent), in particular Native Americans influence on views effecting Europe after the time of contact. This is roughly sketched at the beginning of the book and Graeber admits that of course the enlightenment values have been used to do horrible things by horrible people, but that does not taint some of those ideas and more importantly some of those values, with proper democracy, can and have been integrated into societies throughout history and throughout the world - they are not a European invention but a human potential.
In this book it feels like we are living a little bit in a fantasy world which I think makes Davids reputation vulnerable. I don’t think this should be a book that his method or academic rigour is judged by and it should be more interpreted as fictive interpretation. And David accepts that, many times early on in the books he says things like “there is no definite way to write about this period” or ‘often there is only one account of a pirate to go by, and where there are two, they often contradict each other’. So, in sum, we are left with a very loose jumping off point where David takes us on a sprawling narrative co-ordinated by his views and, since he is somewhat of a radical in these difficult and conservative times, it is easy to dismiss the arguments in this book. Especially since there is little evidence and a lot of theory and fiction.
The narrative follows the legacy of pirates and the role they played in our collective imagination. We have been fascinated by them but what we are often short of realising is that they were some of the people that potentially directly influenced enlightenment ideals about democracy. It’s an emphasis on potentially for me and I am not entirely swayed by David’s interpretation here. Pirates who settled on land were some of the first to try and start a democracy which included the radical other in the form of local Malagasy’s. Though some pirates did pillage and murder, some sporadically settled down and started working with Malagasy to form societies which were egalitarian and democratic and those tendencies are still with those people on the North East coast of Madagascar today. David is an expert on Madagascar, I guess, since having lived there and learnt the language whilst writing, I believe, his doctoral thesis. I have known that for a long time and always thought David was an expert until I read this book. I have to say this book shows how complex Malagasy society is, how unique it is but also how I think the material does not yield to the conclusions Graeber makes.
Please check out Graeber’s other books or read Kevin’s reviews for a good introduction! Hello all,
A final David Graeber book, what a shame rest in peace. Thank you for everything.
Quick summary: If you’ve read everything else by Graeber, by all means, go ahead. If you haven’t, I strongly recommend starting elsewhere as this work does not have the characteristic academic rigour and clear structure (and life-changing potential) that I believe Graeber’s other work has. It does have his narrative flair however! An enjoyable read nonetheless.
February 9, 2025
Decent little work by the late David Graeber. As he explains in his foreword, Pirate Enlightenment is a short essay which developed from his work in the late eighties on Madagascar and is a precursor to his magnum opus Dawn of Everything. Pirate Enlightenment can thus be viewed as an extra chapter to the aforementioned work: it has the same goal - to dismantle the Western narratives concering the Enlightenment and to open our minds to the fact that what we call Enlightenment was a worldwide process and was started in cultures that usually don't get any historical credit.
In Pirate Enlightenment (2019), Graeber proposes a new theory concerning the historical development of Madagascar with the period 1690-1720 as a pivotal moment which not only influenced the history of the island itself but of European Enlightenment (later that century) as well.
According to Graeber,some eight hundred pirates who were chased from the Carribean by the British government chose to settle along the coasts of Madagascar. They married Malagassian women and these new families founded trading posts and coastal settlements. This feminine-trading culture was replaced by masculine-military culture when a local war broke out (1712-1720). During this war, different groups organized themselves into a Confederacy under the leadership of Ratsimilaho, a child of a pirate father and a Malagassian women. This Confederacy won the war and for a short time, the Confederacy and its (more or less) democratic principles served as a blueprint for societal organization. Graeber claims the constitution of this Confederacy was informed by the democratic structures among pirate ships combined with Malagassian cultural traditions.
Soon after the war, Ratsimilaho succumbed to alcohol and intrigue, his sons were incapable of replacing him as leader, and the democratic project disappeared - but not without leaving a lasting mark on Malagassian culture. Even today, the class of people who descend from pirate fathers and Malagassian women, is a societal force within Malagassian culture, economics and politics.
As one can see, the essay by Graeber doesn't really consist of a lot of information - it spans just twenty years and is located in a tiny place along the Northeastern coast of Madagascar. One wonders why Graeber didn't just include this essay as an additional chapter in his and Wengrow's Dawn of Everything (2021). As a stand alone book it's not really impressive, although Graeber's contrarian approach has its merit.
In Pirate Enlightenment (2019), Graeber proposes a new theory concerning the historical development of Madagascar with the period 1690-1720 as a pivotal moment which not only influenced the history of the island itself but of European Enlightenment (later that century) as well.
According to Graeber,some eight hundred pirates who were chased from the Carribean by the British government chose to settle along the coasts of Madagascar. They married Malagassian women and these new families founded trading posts and coastal settlements. This feminine-trading culture was replaced by masculine-military culture when a local war broke out (1712-1720). During this war, different groups organized themselves into a Confederacy under the leadership of Ratsimilaho, a child of a pirate father and a Malagassian women. This Confederacy won the war and for a short time, the Confederacy and its (more or less) democratic principles served as a blueprint for societal organization. Graeber claims the constitution of this Confederacy was informed by the democratic structures among pirate ships combined with Malagassian cultural traditions.
Soon after the war, Ratsimilaho succumbed to alcohol and intrigue, his sons were incapable of replacing him as leader, and the democratic project disappeared - but not without leaving a lasting mark on Malagassian culture. Even today, the class of people who descend from pirate fathers and Malagassian women, is a societal force within Malagassian culture, economics and politics.
As one can see, the essay by Graeber doesn't really consist of a lot of information - it spans just twenty years and is located in a tiny place along the Northeastern coast of Madagascar. One wonders why Graeber didn't just include this essay as an additional chapter in his and Wengrow's Dawn of Everything (2021). As a stand alone book it's not really impressive, although Graeber's contrarian approach has its merit.
March 1, 2023
Started reading this and got ten pages in and had to stop. It was sooo boring!
March 23, 2023
I'm going to start by saying I'm a huge Graeber fan, I really appreciate his writing style and analysis. That said, I don't think this work captured either.
More storytelling than analysis. The story is also complicated and confusing, but it's told in an engaging way. Although it drags on way too long. I am having a hard time figuring out what he's trying to say. I think he's telling basically the same story three different ways from different perspectives, but all from the same spotty evidence. It could have been about a third the length. The conclusion, though, is really redemptive and probably the best part, making up slightly for all the confusion to get there. I would suggest if folks are having trouble reading this book to start with the conclusion, then the preface, then (maybe) try to make sense of the story.
I wonder what graeber would have thought about this. How it relates to the early essay or the French version, which preceded this translation.
2.8 stars
More storytelling than analysis. The story is also complicated and confusing, but it's told in an engaging way. Although it drags on way too long. I am having a hard time figuring out what he's trying to say. I think he's telling basically the same story three different ways from different perspectives, but all from the same spotty evidence. It could have been about a third the length. The conclusion, though, is really redemptive and probably the best part, making up slightly for all the confusion to get there. I would suggest if folks are having trouble reading this book to start with the conclusion, then the preface, then (maybe) try to make sense of the story.
I wonder what graeber would have thought about this. How it relates to the early essay or the French version, which preceded this translation.
2.8 stars
November 3, 2023
231103: read this after The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity which I enjoyed immensely. this somewhat less. this is more straight history, thus lots of names, events, politics, little argument for 'enlightenment' aspects of pirate culture. rigorously factual, aware, describing when it is uncertain. utopian project? conscious politics/cultural change? I prefer the fiction of WS Burroughs's pirate 'Captain Mission' (mentioned here as fictional chapter of 17th century) in Cities of the Red Night... and this one only gets going after 100 pages...
December 11, 2022
Sadly for the last time, David Graeber delved into his vast knowledge to make us all question ours. Pirate Enlightenment is, as the author explains, a long essay turned into a short sized (for contemporary standards and especially if you have just read The Dawn of Everything) book. Graeber entices the reader into paying attention with the title, proceeds to explain a part of mid 1000s history of Madagascar, only to then show us how much we don't know about the origins of some of the so called "enlightenment" ideas and politics.
If you liked questioning common perspectives of humanity's past in The Dawn of Everything, this one is a must read. If you never read anything by Graeber and are no history or anthropology buff, this won't be the easiest start, but it is certainly a valuable read.
I thank Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
If you liked questioning common perspectives of humanity's past in The Dawn of Everything, this one is a must read. If you never read anything by Graeber and are no history or anthropology buff, this won't be the easiest start, but it is certainly a valuable read.
I thank Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
May 6, 2024
Extra ster want cadeautje van Marianne
December 1, 2024
Least favorite David Graeber book so far. Just never really felt like it was building to anything, kinda meandering
April 11, 2021
Ho iniziato questo libro con una certa idea su come fosse scritto e ho dovuto cambiarla in corso di lettura. Nella parte centrale, l'ho trovato poco incisivo e poco preciso. Spreca pagine e pagine a dirmi sempre la stessa cosa e quello che deve dirmi, ossia cos'è Libertalia e come funzionava, devo capirlo da sola tra le righe del discorso. Mi è piaciuto leggere nel dettaglio la vita e le singole battaglie dei pirati, ma se invece di nominarmi 30000 volte Ratsimilaho in un racconto discoeso, me lo nominavi 20 in una narrazione fluida, forse poi restava lo spazio per puntualizzare la filosofia pirata. Manca il sunto e il punto del discorso, che poi è il titolo del libro. Posso arrivarci da sola, ma perché non me l'ha detto lui?
La conclusione invece è la cosa più bella, oltre alla prefazione e al primo capitolo. Avrei dato 5 stelle se non fosse stato così approssimativo, ma ne do comunque 3 perché mi ha fatto venir voglia di approfondire il discorso e andare in Madagascar! ^*^
La conclusione invece è la cosa più bella, oltre alla prefazione e al primo capitolo. Avrei dato 5 stelle se non fosse stato così approssimativo, ma ne do comunque 3 perché mi ha fatto venir voglia di approfondire il discorso e andare in Madagascar! ^*^
January 30, 2023
This book is essentially an expansion pack for The Dawn of Everything, not really a fully fleshed out book. It continues his argument that the enlightenment was the product of conversations between western and non western peoples, especially women. The problem is that this argument, based in the history of a group of mixed descendants of Malagasy people and European pirates, requires so much context that it’s more of a boring survey history of Madagascar than the kind of wildly original thought that one can expect from Graeber. It’s sad to say, but Graeber’s last work seems to be his weakest. Worth a quick read if you enjoyed Debt and Dawn of Everything, but don’t let this be your first Graeber book.
February 2, 2023
This wasn’t for me. Too smart and niche. Graeber tries to make a claim about anarchist systems that may or may not have existed in some pirate societies. It’s a very cool concept but I really doubt the claim given the dearth of evidence and the fact that this is coming from a self proclaimed anarchist. There’s just no way this is an objective account. Having said that, I really really like Graeber and encourage everyone to read Bullshit Jobs and Debt. They are mind bending books.
May 19, 2023
This is the second book I’ve read by this author I won’t read another. I find his writing condescending. There is an arrogance in how he presents the information from his perspective vs other source or views.
February 22, 2023
This book was difficult to follow, and it kept telling boring stories and then saying that they were unconfirmed or may have never happened??
April 26, 2024
This was way too niche for me and as predicted I found it to be painfully dull. Did I skim a little, yes. Am I going to count it towards the reading challenge, also yes.
January 3, 2026
Dit is een heerlijk toetje bij “The Dawn of Everything”. In “Pirate Enlightenment” geeft Graeber een voorproefje van het betoog dat hij later, en veel uitgebreider, zal houden in “The Dawn of Everything”. Waar het latere boek voornamelijk voorbeelden bevat uit Noord- en Latijns-Amerika en het Midden-Oosten, draait dit boek om 17e- en 18e-eeuws Madagaskar, de plek waar Graeber zijn eerste eerste onderzoeken deed als antropoloog. Aan de hand van historische verslagen beschrijft Graeber hoe Madagaskar een toevluchtsoord werd voor voortvluchtige piraten en hoe de interactie tussen deze piraten en de inheemse bevolking leidde tot het ontstaan van bijzondere sociaal-maatschappelijke en politieke instituties.
Graeber bouwt voort op het idee dat 17e-eeuwse piratenschepen een soort broedkamer van de Verlichting waren, in de zin dat besluitvorming op de schepen vaak democratisch was en dat de autoriteit van de kapitein berustte op het mandaat dat hij kreeg van zijn bemanning (zoals in het sociale contractdenken van o.a. Locke). Graeber traceert hoe de piraten hun eigen gemeenschappen opbouwden op Madagaskar en hoe zij relaties aangingen met Malagassische vrouwen. Die vrouwen doen dat heel doelbewust, met hun eigen motieven. Door een relatie aan te knopen met de machtige buitenlandse piraten proberen ze namelijk hun eigen positie in de Malagassische samenleving, en die van hun nakomelingen, te verstevigen. Kinderen uit deze gemengde relaties, de zogenaamde “Zana Malata”, groeien op den duur uit tot een greprivilegieerde sociale kaste.
De egalitaire besluitvormingsprocessen van de piraten mengen bovendien met lokale Malagassische gebruiken (zoals massale vergaderingen met de hele gemeenschap, de “kabary”) waardoor er een politieke entiteit ontstaat, de Betsimisaraka Confederatie, die bijzonder egalitair is in vergelijking met andere gemeenschappen op het eiland. Zelfs in hedendaags Madagaskar, zo schrijft Graeber, laat deze egalitaire traditie zijn sporen na, te zien aan het feit dat nazaten van de Confederatie nog steeds een meer egalitaire instelling hebben dan andere Malagassiërs.
Hier zie je het duidelijkst de overeenkomst tussen “Pirate Enlightenment” en “The Dawn of Everything”. Aan de hand van historische voorbeelden uit niet-Westerse samenlevingen (in dit geval Madagaskar) toont Graeber aan dat vastgeroeste westerse ideeën over samenleving en politiek niet universeel zijn en geen historische basis hebben.
Een ander idee waarmee Graeber in beide boeken afrekent is dat het Verlichtingsdenken een puur Europese aangelegenheid zou zijn die eenzijdig geëxporteerd is naar de rest van de wereld. Denkers zoals Hobbes, Rousseau, Voltaire en Montesquieu, zo beargumenteert Graeber, haalden de inspiratie voor hun ideeën echter voor een groot deel uit niet-Westerse culturen. Beter gezegd: zij ontwikkelden hun ideeën als antwoord op de niet-Westerse ideeën waarmee ze in aanraking kwamen door de Europese ontdekkingsreizen. In “the Dawn of Everything” vond ik de onderbouwing voor deze stelling iets overtuigender. Maar waar Graeber in “Pirate Enlightenment” wél in slaagt is de lezer ervan doordringen dat de geschiedenis veel kleurrijker, veelzijdiger en interessanter is dan het standaardverhaal over de Verlichting ons wil doen geloven.
Tot slot leert Graeber je ook om kritisch naar historisch bronnenmateriaal te kijken. Zo toont hij aan dat Westerse schrijvers en handelaren uit de 17e en 18e eeuw doelbewust om de tuin werden geleid door de piraten en de Malagassische bevolking. Zo presenteerden veel piratenkapiteins zich tegenover buitenstaanders als onverschrokken alleenheersers op hun schip, om de buitenwereld te intimideren en te verleiden tot samenwerking. Maar terwijl in werkelijkheid waren deze kapiteins sterk gebonden door de wil van hun bemanning. Ook de Betsimisaraka Confederatie legde buitenstaanders in de luren, door te doen voorkomen alsof ze een strak geleide entiteit waren met een koning aan het hoofd. In werkelijkheid had de koning alleen in oorlogstijd iets te zeggen en daarbuiten niet, maar door dat te verbloemen probeerde de Confederatie indruk te maken op de buitenwereld. Als lezer ga je hierdoor nadenken over de vraag hoeveel andere Westerse geschiedschrijving eigenlijk vervalst is, puur omdat vroegere historici niet doorhadden dat ze in de maling werden genomen.
Toch kan ik aanraden om eerst “The Dawn of Everything” te lezen en daarna pas dit boek. “The Dawn” is vlotter geschreven, terwijl “Pirate Enlightenment” eerder aanvoelt als een academisch artikel. Dat zou het in eerste instantie ook worden, totdat Graeber bedacht (geweldige quote) “everyone hates a long essay; everyone loves a short book” en er dus een boek van maakte. Ook is de tijdlijn van ontwikkelingen op Madagaskar niet altijd even helder en gaat Graeber wel erg gedetailleerd in op tegenstrijdigheden in de reisverslagen over Madagaskar van 17e- en 18e-eeuwse Westerse geschiedschrijvers. Als je dit boek ná “The Dawn of Everything” leest, vergeef je Graeber dat wel en voelt het boek als een ontmoeting met een vriend die je lang niet gesproken hebt.
Graeber bouwt voort op het idee dat 17e-eeuwse piratenschepen een soort broedkamer van de Verlichting waren, in de zin dat besluitvorming op de schepen vaak democratisch was en dat de autoriteit van de kapitein berustte op het mandaat dat hij kreeg van zijn bemanning (zoals in het sociale contractdenken van o.a. Locke). Graeber traceert hoe de piraten hun eigen gemeenschappen opbouwden op Madagaskar en hoe zij relaties aangingen met Malagassische vrouwen. Die vrouwen doen dat heel doelbewust, met hun eigen motieven. Door een relatie aan te knopen met de machtige buitenlandse piraten proberen ze namelijk hun eigen positie in de Malagassische samenleving, en die van hun nakomelingen, te verstevigen. Kinderen uit deze gemengde relaties, de zogenaamde “Zana Malata”, groeien op den duur uit tot een greprivilegieerde sociale kaste.
De egalitaire besluitvormingsprocessen van de piraten mengen bovendien met lokale Malagassische gebruiken (zoals massale vergaderingen met de hele gemeenschap, de “kabary”) waardoor er een politieke entiteit ontstaat, de Betsimisaraka Confederatie, die bijzonder egalitair is in vergelijking met andere gemeenschappen op het eiland. Zelfs in hedendaags Madagaskar, zo schrijft Graeber, laat deze egalitaire traditie zijn sporen na, te zien aan het feit dat nazaten van de Confederatie nog steeds een meer egalitaire instelling hebben dan andere Malagassiërs.
Hier zie je het duidelijkst de overeenkomst tussen “Pirate Enlightenment” en “The Dawn of Everything”. Aan de hand van historische voorbeelden uit niet-Westerse samenlevingen (in dit geval Madagaskar) toont Graeber aan dat vastgeroeste westerse ideeën over samenleving en politiek niet universeel zijn en geen historische basis hebben.
Een ander idee waarmee Graeber in beide boeken afrekent is dat het Verlichtingsdenken een puur Europese aangelegenheid zou zijn die eenzijdig geëxporteerd is naar de rest van de wereld. Denkers zoals Hobbes, Rousseau, Voltaire en Montesquieu, zo beargumenteert Graeber, haalden de inspiratie voor hun ideeën echter voor een groot deel uit niet-Westerse culturen. Beter gezegd: zij ontwikkelden hun ideeën als antwoord op de niet-Westerse ideeën waarmee ze in aanraking kwamen door de Europese ontdekkingsreizen. In “the Dawn of Everything” vond ik de onderbouwing voor deze stelling iets overtuigender. Maar waar Graeber in “Pirate Enlightenment” wél in slaagt is de lezer ervan doordringen dat de geschiedenis veel kleurrijker, veelzijdiger en interessanter is dan het standaardverhaal over de Verlichting ons wil doen geloven.
Tot slot leert Graeber je ook om kritisch naar historisch bronnenmateriaal te kijken. Zo toont hij aan dat Westerse schrijvers en handelaren uit de 17e en 18e eeuw doelbewust om de tuin werden geleid door de piraten en de Malagassische bevolking. Zo presenteerden veel piratenkapiteins zich tegenover buitenstaanders als onverschrokken alleenheersers op hun schip, om de buitenwereld te intimideren en te verleiden tot samenwerking. Maar terwijl in werkelijkheid waren deze kapiteins sterk gebonden door de wil van hun bemanning. Ook de Betsimisaraka Confederatie legde buitenstaanders in de luren, door te doen voorkomen alsof ze een strak geleide entiteit waren met een koning aan het hoofd. In werkelijkheid had de koning alleen in oorlogstijd iets te zeggen en daarbuiten niet, maar door dat te verbloemen probeerde de Confederatie indruk te maken op de buitenwereld. Als lezer ga je hierdoor nadenken over de vraag hoeveel andere Westerse geschiedschrijving eigenlijk vervalst is, puur omdat vroegere historici niet doorhadden dat ze in de maling werden genomen.
Toch kan ik aanraden om eerst “The Dawn of Everything” te lezen en daarna pas dit boek. “The Dawn” is vlotter geschreven, terwijl “Pirate Enlightenment” eerder aanvoelt als een academisch artikel. Dat zou het in eerste instantie ook worden, totdat Graeber bedacht (geweldige quote) “everyone hates a long essay; everyone loves a short book” en er dus een boek van maakte. Ook is de tijdlijn van ontwikkelingen op Madagaskar niet altijd even helder en gaat Graeber wel erg gedetailleerd in op tegenstrijdigheden in de reisverslagen over Madagaskar van 17e- en 18e-eeuwse Westerse geschiedschrijvers. Als je dit boek ná “The Dawn of Everything” leest, vergeef je Graeber dat wel en voelt het boek als een ontmoeting met een vriend die je lang niet gesproken hebt.
January 7, 2026
This book was a very novel topic to read about, and I credit it a lot for being so unlike other works of history or anthropology I've read (not that I've read so many). That being said, I feel like maybe it wasn't the best Graeber for me to start with, though I am by no means dissuaded from reading more. I think part of the dissonance of the book comes from it's unusual positioning - Graeber notes in the beginning that it was meant to be an essay, but realized it was long enough to be a short book and concluded that no one likes a long essay and everyone loves a short book. True enough.
That being said, the tone and style of the introduction is rather different than that of the three chapters, and at least my impression was that the very strong introduction made some claims and set some expectations that the rest of the book, interesting though it was as a work of history, did not quite follow through on. The argument in the introduction is a bold and thought-provoking one - that among the narratives of the Enlightenment that have been left out in how people today generally understand that period is the contribution of indigenous people with whom Europeans were coming into contact with, not only the Malagasy who are some of the protagonists of this book but also indigenous communities in North America. I was really intrigued by his somewhat tongue in cheek identification of the project as part of "decolonizing the Enlightenment," and thought that the arguments he made along those lines were among the most interesting in the book.
That being said, I think those arguments become a pretty peripheral part of the rest of the book, which turns to the separate task of re-telling a history of Madagascar and the encounter between pirates from abroad and the communities native to Madagascar in the 18th century. Also extremely interesting stuff! But as I am woefully ignorant of the history in question and have never read any of the sources he discusses, I had to take him at his word about the kinds of historical interventions he was making, even if I sometimes questioned the generalizations and inferences he seemed to be relying upon.
By the end I think I wanted to return to the introduction and simply ask for both - the shorter essay about how decolonizing the Enlightenment should include a discussion of pirate narratives and how they may have shaped the intellectual milieu of early Enlightenment thinkers, and a longer more extensively contextualized and narrativized book about this particular period in Malagasy history. Both would be really interesting, but smashed together in this form I think something is rather lacking.
Of course at the same time it was a really interesting story, and one which I certainly knew nothing about (save from what I remember from a conversation with a friend at a bar about this very book, which stirred my interest enough to pick it back up maybe a year and a half later). Anyway, I gather (from another year old conversation) that there are some overlapping themes with the rather beefier book of Graeber's, the Dawn of Everything, so perhaps that is where I will next turn, unless someone wants to point me elsewhere!
As a perhaps already-evident concluding note, this did make me way more interested in both pirates and the history of Madagascar!
That being said, the tone and style of the introduction is rather different than that of the three chapters, and at least my impression was that the very strong introduction made some claims and set some expectations that the rest of the book, interesting though it was as a work of history, did not quite follow through on. The argument in the introduction is a bold and thought-provoking one - that among the narratives of the Enlightenment that have been left out in how people today generally understand that period is the contribution of indigenous people with whom Europeans were coming into contact with, not only the Malagasy who are some of the protagonists of this book but also indigenous communities in North America. I was really intrigued by his somewhat tongue in cheek identification of the project as part of "decolonizing the Enlightenment," and thought that the arguments he made along those lines were among the most interesting in the book.
That being said, I think those arguments become a pretty peripheral part of the rest of the book, which turns to the separate task of re-telling a history of Madagascar and the encounter between pirates from abroad and the communities native to Madagascar in the 18th century. Also extremely interesting stuff! But as I am woefully ignorant of the history in question and have never read any of the sources he discusses, I had to take him at his word about the kinds of historical interventions he was making, even if I sometimes questioned the generalizations and inferences he seemed to be relying upon.
By the end I think I wanted to return to the introduction and simply ask for both - the shorter essay about how decolonizing the Enlightenment should include a discussion of pirate narratives and how they may have shaped the intellectual milieu of early Enlightenment thinkers, and a longer more extensively contextualized and narrativized book about this particular period in Malagasy history. Both would be really interesting, but smashed together in this form I think something is rather lacking.
Of course at the same time it was a really interesting story, and one which I certainly knew nothing about (save from what I remember from a conversation with a friend at a bar about this very book, which stirred my interest enough to pick it back up maybe a year and a half later). Anyway, I gather (from another year old conversation) that there are some overlapping themes with the rather beefier book of Graeber's, the Dawn of Everything, so perhaps that is where I will next turn, unless someone wants to point me elsewhere!
As a perhaps already-evident concluding note, this did make me way more interested in both pirates and the history of Madagascar!
October 26, 2023
This is a book about pirate kingdoms, real and imagined. It's also about a time and place where it is very difficult to tell the difference between the two. from the intro pxiii
The republic of Libertalia may not have existed, at least in any literal sense, but pirate ships and pirate towns like Abonavola...created by Malagasy political actors in close tandem with the pirates were in many ways self-conscious experiments in radical democracy. ibid pxxi
David Graeber applies his towering intellect to the small conundrum of pirate societies and the larger if even more obscure impact on the colonizers of the world by the civilizations they subdued.
The European Enlightenment was an age of intellectual synthesis where previously intellectual backwaters like England and France that suddenly found themselves at the centre of global empires and exposed to startling new ideas. from the intro pxxii
Just as these conquerors carried home their looted treasures, the ideas they stole were claimed as their exclusive property. DG carries these ideas further in other publications. Here he investigates the myth of pirate kingdoms to discover what facts he can. Most fascinating is his reconstruction of the kingdom of Ratsimilaho, who was first elected as a temporary leader and eventually, through a strategic marriage and success in battle, the king who united the entire north-east.
to understand the full implications of the events described one must go beyond what was considered worth telling two generations later, and turn each bit...sideways to see it in the context of what's not being said. p192
DG is good at this and it's a pity he's not yet figured out a way to communicate from his abrupt death as he was just getting warmed up. I'm not sure just where this little book belongs in his great oeuvre, but he does supply references and quotes extensively from the popular literature of the day. His take is empathic as he documents
...the desperate and ultimately doomed struggle of a motely band of outlaws against the entire emerging structure of world authority at the time. pxxii
4/5 for GR 5/7 in a 7 point system
The republic of Libertalia may not have existed, at least in any literal sense, but pirate ships and pirate towns like Abonavola...created by Malagasy political actors in close tandem with the pirates were in many ways self-conscious experiments in radical democracy. ibid pxxi
David Graeber applies his towering intellect to the small conundrum of pirate societies and the larger if even more obscure impact on the colonizers of the world by the civilizations they subdued.
The European Enlightenment was an age of intellectual synthesis where previously intellectual backwaters like England and France that suddenly found themselves at the centre of global empires and exposed to startling new ideas. from the intro pxxii
Just as these conquerors carried home their looted treasures, the ideas they stole were claimed as their exclusive property. DG carries these ideas further in other publications. Here he investigates the myth of pirate kingdoms to discover what facts he can. Most fascinating is his reconstruction of the kingdom of Ratsimilaho, who was first elected as a temporary leader and eventually, through a strategic marriage and success in battle, the king who united the entire north-east.
to understand the full implications of the events described one must go beyond what was considered worth telling two generations later, and turn each bit...sideways to see it in the context of what's not being said. p192
DG is good at this and it's a pity he's not yet figured out a way to communicate from his abrupt death as he was just getting warmed up. I'm not sure just where this little book belongs in his great oeuvre, but he does supply references and quotes extensively from the popular literature of the day. His take is empathic as he documents
...the desperate and ultimately doomed struggle of a motely band of outlaws against the entire emerging structure of world authority at the time. pxxii
4/5 for GR 5/7 in a 7 point system
March 11, 2023
An interesting history exploring the validity of some commonly believed histories of “pirate cities” (especially the mythical “Libertalia”) existing as societies and governmental bodies during the height of piracy and the expansion of European empire. I only gave it three stars not because it isn’t well-written (it is), but moreso because it was a topic of less interest to me, something I grabbed and read mostly because it was the new David Graeber book, and since he’s passed those are now a limited commodity.
August 13, 2023
2,5
Vielen Dank an Netgalley und dem Klett-Cotta Verlag für das kostenlose Leseexemplar.
Ich habe etwas völlig anderes erwartet. Die erste Überraschung war für mich, dass die See fast nie vorkam.
Dafür habe ich viel über Madagaskar gelernt, vor allem das des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts. Über Rituale, Symbolik, Gesellschaftsstrukturen und Bündnisse. Ein etwas anderes Piratenbuch.
Hier findet man weniger Abenteuer, sondern eher Hintergrundwissen.
#Piraten #NetGalleyDE
Vielen Dank an Netgalley und dem Klett-Cotta Verlag für das kostenlose Leseexemplar.
Ich habe etwas völlig anderes erwartet. Die erste Überraschung war für mich, dass die See fast nie vorkam.
Dafür habe ich viel über Madagaskar gelernt, vor allem das des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts. Über Rituale, Symbolik, Gesellschaftsstrukturen und Bündnisse. Ein etwas anderes Piratenbuch.
Hier findet man weniger Abenteuer, sondern eher Hintergrundwissen.
#Piraten #NetGalleyDE
December 2, 2025
The topic was interesting, but I feel a bit tricked by the title. It should rather be "people of Madagascar maybe did an interesting social experiment that predates the European enlightenment, oh and some pirates were also involved, but also the sources are very scarce so actually we are not quite sure what really happened".
December 28, 2024
What a refreshing book! I never really thought more about pirates and their lives even though they surely took lots of my imagination as I was I boy. Graeber paid much more attention and came to the conclusion that they created a unique community as they settled in Madagascar. What a great story!
September 5, 2025
“For perhaps a thousand years now, foreign visitors have arrived in Madagascar and have been effectively absorbed.”
Very interesting read about the governance that arose from the encounters between Malagasy community and pirates attempting to settle on Madagascar around the turn of the 18th century.
Very interesting read about the governance that arose from the encounters between Malagasy community and pirates attempting to settle on Madagascar around the turn of the 18th century.
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