Pirate Enlightenment, or The Real Libertalia, by David Graeber

 

Anthropolgist David Graeber argues pirate culture laid the foundation stones of The Enlightenment.​

In this posthumous work, Pirate Enlightenment, or The Real Libertalia, anthropologist and activist David Graeber (1961 - 2020) makes the case that when rogue English pirates in the late 17th and early 18th centuries sought refuge in northern Madagascar, it led to a cultural and political fusion with the Malagasy people that was a forerunner to the Enlightenment. There was much fascination with pirate lore at the time and in 1724 A General History of the Pyrates was published in London (its rumored author was Daniel Defoe). It included a description of an egalitarian Madagascan pirate state called Libertalia. Libertalia was pure fiction, but another  Madagascan state, the Betsimisaraka confederation, established in 1712 by the son of a British pirate and Malagasy queen, maintained an egalitarian government for close to 40 years.

The historical pirate record is thin on the ground, and Graeber uses the verbs “seems” and “appears” a lot when trying to flesh out his arguments. Even though  Pirate Enlightenment is more wish fulfillment than anything else, Graeber’s intellectual energy and curiosity can never be in doubt. A fascinating thought experiment that will have readers scrambling to do additional research of their own. 

Pirate Enlightenment, or The Real Libertalia, by David Graeber. Published by Allen Lane. $35

JUNE23