Secure, Idyllic, and Unsustainable: Exploring the Narratives of Eastern Africa's Pirate Prisons

• In Event: Justice Issues in Africa and the Middle East

Abstract

In March of 2011, several media outlets published articles announcing the opening of a "pirate prison" in the northwest region of Somalia. Soon after, two other East African facilities became known as pirate prisons and gained international attention. Through discourse analysis of local and foreign media reports and United Nations publications, this study explores how penal imaginaries of what pirate prisons look like, what they do, who they imprison, and their role within their respective contexts were produced and promoted over a course of five years. We examine the individual narratives of three East African pirate prisons located in Somalia and the Seychelles to illustrate how penal imaginaries are differentially socially constructed and have the potential to do work within their respective geographic contexts. We also make a broader argument for taking more seriously the link between the discursive construction of prisons and their material implications for the daily lived experiences of prisoners, prison staff, and contiguous communities. In doing so, we encourage future research approaches that resist existing popularized penal imaginaries, present alternate penal imaginaries, and potentially trigger penal reform.

Authors

• Brittany Gilmer, University of Alabama

• Caroline Comerford, Florida International University