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Pirate Care

Acts Against the Criminalization of Solidarity

Tomislav Medak author Valeria Graziano author Marcell Mars author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Pluto Press

Publishing:20th Jan '25

£14.99

This title is due to be published on 20th January, and will be despatched as soon as possible.

Pirate Care cover

In many places around the world, the freedom to simply care for one another is under attack by the powerful, and acts of solidarity are being made illegal. In a moment of struggle defined by the rollback of social welfare programs, the criminalisation of migration, and the right-wing clampdown on bodily autonomy, radical networks of care are fighting back.

From volunteer rescue boats in the Mediterranean to underground labs for preparing gender-affirming hormones, from the sharing of copyrighted health knowledge to the provision of abortion and contraception, people are reclaiming the means to care for one another in defiance of a system that devalues and exploits the labour of care.

Against atomised despair, Pirate Care shows that fighting back isn't only about legal and legislative changes but also about organizing, direct action, and disobedient care.

'Putting the words pirate and care together already produces a spark of excitement, asking us to imagine how we are going to make the world together. A world in which what are often separate practices, and languages about practices, can come together. Where abolition, hacking, the commons, queerness and repair are connected. Where as good feminists we concern ourselves with the work and play that sustains us, in and against the empires of extraction. A most nourishing and encouraging little book'

-- McKenzie Wark, author of A Hacker Manifesto and Capital is Dead

'In times of rampant institutionalized cruelty and neglect, and as we witness the increasing commodification, weaponization and criminalization of care, this inspiring and stimulating collection celebrates care’s uncompromising radicality – from anonymous everyday solidarity to bold acts of resistance in the face of ruthless repression. Pirate Care is a breath of fiery courage against the suffocation of hope'

-- María Puig de la Bellacasa, author of Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More Than Human Worlds

ISBN: 9780745349800

Dimensions: 215mm x 110mm x 12mm

Weight: unknown

176 pages