Memo+34+Comparative+Positioning

Methodologically this book will be positioned between Andrew Pickering's //The Mangle// and David Turnbull's //Masons, Tricksters and Cartographers,// as it will be drawing heavily on both the concept of the mangle, as well as the idea of the motley – in this case specifically, science emerging from the motley of criminal and missionary life in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Furthermore, the case studies in my book will be organized similarly to Turnbull's study.

Topically, the book most similar would probably be //Villains of All Nations// by well known historian Marcus Rediker, a social and cultural history of piracy that “proves the real lives of this motley crew are far more compelling than contemporary myth.” While I will be dealing with the same subject matter, my approach will be some what different, as it will incorporate more theory than a traditional historical text. Likewise, while I may also be painting a compelling picture of piracy, it will be from the perspective of piracy's contributions to science, technology and the development of Western science – which is not covered by Rediker. In this manner my book with be theoretically positioned alongside of Sandra Harding and her work on postcolonialism and Vanda Shiva's //Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge//, which draws on both postcolonialism and subaltern studies.