Based on an ethnographic engagement with the Somali coast, this article reframes maritime piracy as an economy of protection linked to longer histories and contestations over trade, plunder, and profit in this region. Through the lens of protection, the article brings into view an emergent moral economy of piracy and ethical debates over the nature of work and trad...

From 2008 to 2012, a dramatic upsurge in maritime piracy in the Western Indian Ocean captivated global attention and led to the development of robust counter-piracy measures, including the deployment of navies, legal prosecutions, and the use of armed guards on merchant ships transiting through the region. By the end of 2012, incidents of maritime piracy, successfu...