The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism
By Hakim Bey
THE TEMPORARY AUTONOMOUS ZONE
“…this time however I come as the victorious Dionysus, who will turn the world into a holiday…Not that I have much time…”
–Nietzsche (from his last “insane” letter to Cosima Wagner) Part 3
Pirate Utopias
THE SEA-ROVERS AND CORSAIRS of the 18th century created an “information network” that spanned the globe: primitive and devoted primarily to grim business, the net nevertheless functioned admirably. Scattered throughout the net were islands, remote hideouts where ships could be watered and provisioned, booty traded for luxuries and necessities. Some of these islands supported “intentional communities,” whole mini-societies living consciously outside the law and determined to keep it up, even if only for a short but merry life. Some years ago I looked through a lot of secondary material on piracy hoping to find a study of these enclaves–but it appeared as if no historian has yet found them worthy of analysis. (William Burroughs has mentioned the subject, as did the late British anarchist Larry Law–but no systematic research has been carried out.) I retreated to primary sources and constructed my own theory, some aspects of which will be discussed in this essay. I called the settlements “Pirate Utopias.”
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