Political Ambitions of European “Pirates”

343
DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2015-7-72-84

T. Rovinskaya, Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), 23, Profsoyuznaya Str., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation (mirtania@gmail.com)


Abstract

The paper thoroughly examines the ideological essence, political goals, structure, electoral achievements and international protest activities of the Pirate Movement, consisting of national Pirate Parties worldwide and the Pirate Parties International. The Pirate ideology arose in mid-2000s in response to information society biases, and is paying special attention to the freedom of non-commercial information exchange in the Internet, individual privacy, transparency of state politics and direct citizens' involvement with flexible Internet-tools (Liquid Democracy concept). This relatively new political force has made a vivid progress in electoral field within a short time (since 2006 till present). The representatives of the most successful Pirate Parties (in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Spain, Croatia and Iceland) hold deputy's seats in municipal, regional, national and supranational state agencies, including the European Parliament. In many other countries of the world the "Pirates" are also registered officially and participate in elections; in some countries the Pirate Parties are active, though not yet registered. Except for electoral activity, the Pirate Parties organize joint protest campaigns against national laws/state programs and international agreements that violate the information freedom and civil rights (i.e. PRISM, ACTA). These campaigns also serve for unification and growth of the international Pirate Movement. The Pirate Parties have quickly transformed from populist groups into a political force aspiring to equitable participation in political process along with traditional political parties, challenging them in a certain way. The Pirate ideology will be in demand as long as it will give a resultative solution for specific problems of a post-industrial society in the context of democracy.


Keywords

Pirate Party, Pirate Movement, Pirate Parties International, Pirates Without Borders, Pirate Party of Europe, Pirate Wheel, copyright, transparency, WikiLeaks, ACTA, AntiPRISM


Registered in System SCIENCE INDEX

For citation:
Rovinskaya T. Political Ambitions of European “Pirates”. World Eñonomy and International Relations, 2015, No 7, pp. 72-84. https://doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2015-7-72-84



Comments (0)

No comments

Add comment







Indexed

 

 

 

 

Current Issue
2022, vol. 66, No. 6
Topical Themes of the Issue:
  •  China on the Eve of the 20th CPC Congress 
  •  2020 Elections: “Stress Test” for American Federalism 
  •  The Chancellor O. Scholz’s Policy in the Context of Global Transformation 
  •  The EU China Policy in the Making: The Role of Central and Eastern Europe 
  •  Pan-European Political Space: From Idea to Reality
View This Issue (2022, vol. 66, No. 6)
Submit an Article
NEW SECTION

In response to the challenges of our time the Editorial board continues to open new thematic rubrics:

“World Energy Sector after Pandemic”. We plan to publish articles presenting in-depth analysis of influence of Pandemic on the global energy sector and forecasts of further developments in its various branches.