Mobility Through Piracy, or How Steven Seagal Got to Malawi

Malawi presents a fascinating case study for global media flows: a country full of American product, with much of it there because of an informal economy, and, conversely, little of it there because of any effort on Hollywood's part to develop Malawi as a market. This article therefore draws from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Malawi during the summers of 2008 and 2010 to examine the circulation of foreign film and television and to detail a form of media mobility through piracy.