This book examines the increasing role of development organizations in securitization processes and argues that the new security-development counter piracy framework is (re)shaping political geographies of piracy by promoting disciplinary strategies aimed at the prevention and containment of gendered and racialized actions and bodies in Somalia.

This book examines the increasing role of development organizations in securitization processes and argues that the new security-development counter piracy framework is (re)shaping political geographies of piracy by promoting disciplinary strategies aimed at the prevention and containment of gendered and racialized actions and bodies in Somalia.

This book provides an insight to the cultural work involved in violence at sea in this period of maritime history. It is the first to consider how 'piracy' and representations of 'pirates' both shape and were shaped by political, social and religious debates, showing how attitudes to 'piracy' and violence at sea were debated between 1550 and 1650.

Piracy: the background -- The political development of Somalia -- Stateless territories and clandestine networks -- The pirate coast -- The geography of piracy -- Pirate operations -- The impact of the shipping industry -- Legal and insurance issues -- Vessel defence -- Are there answers?.

Developed out of the author's own substantial teaching experience, this introduction to political geography approaches its subject matter from the standpoint of political economy and the politics of difference.