Deviance Proposal
Evan Mowry
Sociology of Deviance
Friday Seminar Proposal: Piracy
I have chosen to discuss various forms of maritime deviance, centering on piracy. Piracy, in the traditional sense beginning around the early-17th century and still goes on, to a certain extent, today, is the unlawful seizure of property on the High Seas, which itself varied in definition from all salt-water, to any water more than thirty miles from shore, to the modern definition of International Waters.
Throughout the years piracy has gone through myriad perceptual changes, becoming more and less accepted depending on the target and the economics of those judging their actions. Because of fierce nautical rivalry during the years of Imperialist expansion, Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and to a lesser extent other coastal nations first dealt with piracy against their own shipping militarily and then with money, creating a new system of privateering, in which letters of marque were presented to the captain of an independent ship which gave him, his ship, and his crew a sort of diplomatic immunity as long as the only shipping they preyed upon was not that of the country signing the letter of marque. Some countries, such as Canada, relied almost solely on privateers to protect their coastal towns in the absence of a strong standing navy.
I believe I will also be discussing mutinies, due to their relevance to both piracy and the concepts of power structures and other sociological theories that are showing up a lot in our discussions of deviance theory. In addition to mutinies, the maritime traditions and power relations of the time resulted in a host of things that would today be considered deviant, which I will also explore. Extreme corporal punishment, prostitution, and violence will be discussed.
I chose to discuss piracy because I believe that in exploring what caused men to huddle aboard a floating coffin and kill for a living is applicable in the exploration of the causes of gang violence, military dictatorships, and terrorism in the contemporary world. While the situations are superficially quite different, people in general are still very much the same, and what motivated one person to commit to a life of crime long ago might parallel what causes people to participate in political or urban violence now. Also, piracy continues to flourish in parts of the Caribbean and the South Pacific, which is seldom realized by us, mostly land-bound students, in Morris.
During my discussion I plan on quickly presenting a more accurate view of piracy than that presented by the modern entertainment industry, and describing what exactly piracy was. I will then go more into depth with respect to the possible causes of piracy, here exploring mutinies, economic conditions, and common military policy of the European nation-states that “produced” pirates, and draw parallels and possible explanations of piracy from the theories we have learned of in class. I will then quickly cover the modern aspect of piracy, and explain why I think the sociological aspects of historical piracy are relevant today. I believe I will show a clip from the movie “the Life Aquatic” both because it gives an accurate portrayal of modern piracy, and because it’s hilarious.
Potential Questions:
#1: How do you think the military policy of “pressing” might have impacted piracy, and why?
+Is this situation familiar to the modern world?
+How does this relate to the theory of Social Control, etc…?
#2: What, in your opinion, caused the shift from Piracy to Privateering?
+Does this parallel a “deviance” that has become acceptable in recent years?
+What forces resulted in both of these social changes?
#3: Which sociological theory best explains the historical existence of Piracy?
+Why?
#4: What contemporary social phenomena resemble, in structure or character, historical piracy?
+Given the history of piracy, and its changes through time, how can those phenomena be dealt with or fixed?
Sociology of Deviance
Friday Seminar Proposal: Piracy
I have chosen to discuss various forms of maritime deviance, centering on piracy. Piracy, in the traditional sense beginning around the early-17th century and still goes on, to a certain extent, today, is the unlawful seizure of property on the High Seas, which itself varied in definition from all salt-water, to any water more than thirty miles from shore, to the modern definition of International Waters.
Throughout the years piracy has gone through myriad perceptual changes, becoming more and less accepted depending on the target and the economics of those judging their actions. Because of fierce nautical rivalry during the years of Imperialist expansion, Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and to a lesser extent other coastal nations first dealt with piracy against their own shipping militarily and then with money, creating a new system of privateering, in which letters of marque were presented to the captain of an independent ship which gave him, his ship, and his crew a sort of diplomatic immunity as long as the only shipping they preyed upon was not that of the country signing the letter of marque. Some countries, such as Canada, relied almost solely on privateers to protect their coastal towns in the absence of a strong standing navy.
I believe I will also be discussing mutinies, due to their relevance to both piracy and the concepts of power structures and other sociological theories that are showing up a lot in our discussions of deviance theory. In addition to mutinies, the maritime traditions and power relations of the time resulted in a host of things that would today be considered deviant, which I will also explore. Extreme corporal punishment, prostitution, and violence will be discussed.
I chose to discuss piracy because I believe that in exploring what caused men to huddle aboard a floating coffin and kill for a living is applicable in the exploration of the causes of gang violence, military dictatorships, and terrorism in the contemporary world. While the situations are superficially quite different, people in general are still very much the same, and what motivated one person to commit to a life of crime long ago might parallel what causes people to participate in political or urban violence now. Also, piracy continues to flourish in parts of the Caribbean and the South Pacific, which is seldom realized by us, mostly land-bound students, in Morris.
During my discussion I plan on quickly presenting a more accurate view of piracy than that presented by the modern entertainment industry, and describing what exactly piracy was. I will then go more into depth with respect to the possible causes of piracy, here exploring mutinies, economic conditions, and common military policy of the European nation-states that “produced” pirates, and draw parallels and possible explanations of piracy from the theories we have learned of in class. I will then quickly cover the modern aspect of piracy, and explain why I think the sociological aspects of historical piracy are relevant today. I believe I will show a clip from the movie “the Life Aquatic” both because it gives an accurate portrayal of modern piracy, and because it’s hilarious.
Potential Questions:
#1: How do you think the military policy of “pressing” might have impacted piracy, and why?
+Is this situation familiar to the modern world?
+How does this relate to the theory of Social Control, etc…?
#2: What, in your opinion, caused the shift from Piracy to Privateering?
+Does this parallel a “deviance” that has become acceptable in recent years?
+What forces resulted in both of these social changes?
#3: Which sociological theory best explains the historical existence of Piracy?
+Why?
#4: What contemporary social phenomena resemble, in structure or character, historical piracy?
+Given the history of piracy, and its changes through time, how can those phenomena be dealt with or fixed?
posted by evan at 1:06 PM
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