Temporary Autonomous Zone

We will be hoisting the flag to declare the Market Estate Temporary Autonomous Zone on Monday 1st March at 1pm.  Everyone welcome.

Tamworth Block

The pirates that Defoe wrote about preyed on the Atlantic trade in the 17th and 18th century. They were generally callous and brutal men who came to unpleasant ends but they were also products of a system of hideous exploitation. In their expropriation of the profits of the slave trade in the pursuit of personal freedom it could be argued that they were better than the ‘honest men’ who they preyed upon.

Pirate crews of this era generally organised around an elected Captain and Quartermaster who were granted a double share on the plunder. The Captain’s position was transitory and depended on his success as a ‘war chief’; in this manner he was similar to the leader of a war party in Pierre Clastres analysis of Native American societies*. For him to maintain control he had to maintain “actual permanent war” (Clastres p.186) this prevented any real social cohesion from taking place. Effectively the crew were in a state of continuing revolt against the general society of the sea – a permanent temporary state that was only bought to an end by the crew amassing sufficient wealth and taking advantage of one of the periodic amnesties that the maritime powers offered, or in their capture and death.

Both the tribal group and pirate band define themselves in opposition to the other. However, unlike the blood based tribal group membership of the crew was not based on birth but on voluntary acceptance of the ‘articles’ of the crew – these were signed up to by the crew members as a free alliance** – a declaration of war on other societies. The Quartermaster was the permanent ‘civil chief’ in this situation, he acted to moderate the Captain and look to the crew’s long term interests (to accrue sufficient wealth to take advantage of any pardon before a fatal conflict). The Quartermaster was effectively doomed to fail in any wider civil sense – “If any society allows the proportion of its provisions attained from the spoils of war to grow, it would thereby establish a relation of growing dependence on its providers.” (Clastres p.184)

Seeing as the crew were parasitic on the Atlantic trade they had no wider civil society to protect: However Defoe’s account of Captain’s Misson and Tew demonstrate a desire to move beyond the liberty that is found in constant revolt and form a society outside the constraints of both European and colonial rule. The period of revolutionary liberty had given them a view into how they could develop their autonomy outside of the rigid hierarchies of their previous lives.

*Pirate crews were generally more accepting of non-Europeans than the white/other social divisions of the colonial Caribbean – possibly some alternative mechanisms of organisation were carried over from these contacts?

**The extent to which the choice was truly ‘free’ is open to question, when bought to trial the majority of pirates claimed that they were forced to join the crew. However captured pirates had a vested interest in this claim as it would return a ‘not guilty’ verdict.

While at the Market Estate today I was interviewed by Chris on Market Radio, amongst other things we were talking about the flag in relation to cinema:

Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, 1954)

In Seven Samurai the villagers designs a flag that unites the mercenary Samurai with the village that they have been hired to protect; this happens at a key point in the film and demonstrates the moment where the samurai become emotionally invested with the villager’s struggle. It becomes a continuing motif throughout the remainder of the film; highlighting the interplay between the elements of the ‘village’ the six ‘genuine samurai’ and the transitional figure of Kikuchiyo.

Modern Times (Chaplin, 1936)

In Modern Times The Tramp is looking for work in the industrial area of the city. A truck drives past with poles on it, a red flag that is tied round these poles as warning marker falls off, The Tramp picks it and runs after the truck, waving it; attempting to gain the drivers attention. Unbeknown to him a march of protesting proletarians are coming up the street; a riot ensues and the bemused Tramp is arrested as a ring leader.

Final Design

The vast majority of votes were placed for this design; voting was slightly skewed by the presence of several children who decided that they wanted this flag in these colours, weren’t going to have any truck with bourgeois notions of liberal democracy and cast multiple votes.  This seems to me to be as good a way of any of selecting the image.

Here are some images from the voting at the party yesterday – the election officials observed some irregularities but have declared the vote to be ‘free and fair’

voters considering their options

democracy in action

more voters make their choice

some irregular voting patterns were noticed

I have been thinking more about the pirate connection over the past couple of days. I have been reading Defoe’s account of Bartholomew Roberts that has an interesting account of the ‘election’ of Roberts as captain and the rules of the crew:

“I. Every Man has a Vote in Affairs of Moment; has equal Title to the fresh Provisions, or strong Liquors, at any Time seized, and may use them at Pleasure, unless a Scarcity make it necessary, for the Good of all, to vote a Retrenchment.” (Defoe)

Flag of Bartholomew Roberts (c. 1720)

His flag was “his own Figure pourtray’d, standing on two Skulls, and under them the Letters A.B.H. And A.M.H, signifying a Barbadian’s and a Martinican’s Head” (Defoe) – this, with its narrative quality is similar to Misson’s liberty flag (see flags). These two flags demonstrate the beginnings of a move away from the aristocratic flags of the medieval period and into a rediscovery of the symbolism of ancient Greece and Rome. Increased literacy also meant that mottoes became more prevalent.

the Bluidy Banner of the Covenanters (1679)

This can possibly be traced back (in the Anglophone tradition) to the placing of text on flags during the Civil War period; it was continued through the adoption of state flags during the American War of Independence, and was developed further in the 19th century with the banners of the trade union movement.

The Commonwealth of Virginia (current version, original 1776)

(External image sources: flag of Bartholomew Roberts, the Bluidy Banner, Commonwealth of Virginia)

These ideas are based on a encircled star of Ishtar/Astarte from ancient Mesopotamia

Option a) is straight forward but on option b) I have mirrored the pattern of the flag of Christiania, this tripling could also be read as duality-plus-one.

Ishtar/Astarte Option A

Ishtar/Astarte Option B

With these designs I have taken the star of Astarte and combined it with the Hopi brotherhood symbol, I suppose this could also be taken as some form of parenthesis around the star. On this symbol the left-hand side is higher, something that is uncommon in western iconography where the right-hand is generally presented as higher (better). I am left-handed and therefore like the reversal.

Astarte/Brotherhood Option A

Astarte/Brotherhood Option B

The final set of ideas have take the Hopi symbol back to a possible origin point as a hand gesture (I am really just guessing here) and combined it with the star. The drawing of the hands is deliberately stylised – I am not sure if they are are right like this so i might work on them some more.

Astarte/Hands Option A

Astarte/Hands Option B