Netflix as Global Thought

What can paying attention to the intentionally obscured shadow industry of television piracy reveal about Netflix and its delivery of global thought?

Authors

  • Polly White University of Cumbria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15664/ejh2kx93

Abstract

This essay challenges streaming services as providers of global content through the case study of Netflix. Through the lens of television piracy, it investigates the spatial and temporal challenges inherent in the streaming era. Ultimately this essay contends that streaming regresses as frequently as it promised progress, while piracy emerges as both a revealing and transformative force. By circumventing the limitations of streaming it is piracy that offers access to global thought in an increasingly fragmented digital landscape.

Author Biography

  • Polly White, University of Cumbria

    Polly White works in the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office at the University of Cumbria. They completed a Film Studies MLitt student at the University of St Andrews as a recipient of the Santander Postgraduate Taught Scholarship award. Their research is engaged with fan studies and queer studies. They have previously written on “The Cult Afterlife” of Television texts, published in Frames Cinema Journal, Issue 21, Summer 2023. Contact: polly.white@cumbria.ac.uk

A pixellated blue skull in a digital background indicating digital piracy.

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Published

2025-09-23

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025): The Crisis in Global Thought

Section

Critical Conversations / Blog

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Polly White

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

White, P. (2025). Netflix as Global Thought: What can paying attention to the intentionally obscured shadow industry of television piracy reveal about Netflix and its delivery of global thought?. INTER- The Journal for Global Thought, 1(1), 171-182. https://doi.org/10.15664/ejh2kx93