Betafo, a rural community in central Madagascar, is divided between the descendants of nobles and descendants of slaves. Anthropologist David Graeber arrived for fieldwork at the height of tensions attributed to a disastrous communal ordeal two years earlier. As Graeber uncovers the layers of histor[...]
This innovative book is the first comprehensive synthesis of economic, political, and cultural theories of value. David Graeber reexamines a century of anthropological thought about value and exchange, in large measure to find a way out of quandaries in current social theory, which have become criti[...]
From their earliest meetings, activist David Graeber knew that the Occupy Wall Street movement was something different. From small beginnings its demonstrations spread across the world to cities like Cairo, Athens, Barcelona and London and gave a glimpse of a new way. This provocative look at the ac[...]
A bold rethinking of the most powerful political idea in the world--democracy--and the story of how radical democracy can yet transform America
Democracy has been the American religion since before the Revolution--from New England town halls to the multicultural democracy of Atlantic pirate shi[...]
Everywhere anarchism is on the upswing as a political philosophy - everywhere, that is, except the academy. Anarchists repeatedly appeal to anthropologists for ideas about how society might be reorganized on a more egalitarian, less alienating basis. Anthropologists, terrified of being accused of ro[...]
Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber: Conversation Starters
Bullshit jobs are spiritually and morally corrosive and make people extremely unhappy. If people are denied meaningful jobs that enable them to somehow contribute something to the world, they become mad or deeply miserable. They hold jobs t[...]
Capitalism as we know it appears to be coming apart. But as financial institutions stagger and crumble, there is no obvious alternative. There is good reason to believe that, in a generation or so, capitalism will no longer exist for the simple reason that it's impossible to maintain an engine of pe[...]
Now in paperback: David Graeber's "fresh .â.â. fascinating .â.â. thought-provoking .â.â. and exceedingly timely" ("Financial Times") history of debt
Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: he shows that before there wa[...]
A follow-up to David Graeber's "Debt: The First 5,000 Years," which has sold 100,000 copies for Melville House and been published in 26 foreign editions
Where does the desire for endless rules, regulations, and bureaucracy come from? How did we come to spend so much of our time filling out forms[...]
Before there was money, there was debt
Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter systems--to relieve ancient people from having to haul their goods to market. The problem with this version of history? There's not a shred of eviden[...]
The Democracy Project is an exploration of anti-capitalist dissent and new political ideas from David Graeber, author of Debt: The First 5,000 Years and a leading member of the Occupy movement. From the earliest meetings for Occupy Wall Street, David Graeber - activist, anarchist, and anthropologist[...]
Skuldhantering har blivit en huvudfråga i internationell politik. Men ingen tycks veta exakt vad begreppet skuld står för eller hur man ska förhålla sig till det. Denna flexibla innebörd är i själva verket orsaken till begreppets makt. Det finns inget bättre sätt att rättfärdiga relation[...]