Books by David Graeber

David Graeber is a Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics. His many books include The Utopia of Rules, The Democracy Project and the bestselling Debt: The First 5,000 Years. A frequent guest on the BBC, he writes for, among others, the Guardian, Strike!, the Baffler and New Left Review. He lives in London.

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 - felt that something was different from previous demonstrations. As events gathered pace, from local actions like illegally teaching a seminar in the Bank of America lobby (in a tweed jacket he'd borrowed to look the part) to his harassment and attempted intimidation by New York police in Zuccotti Park, Graeber saw the other Occupy movements in Cairo, Athens, Barcelona and London and knew that times were truly changing.This witty, provocative, yet wide-ranging and ideas-driven look at the actions of the 99% is a vital read in today's protest climate, and asks: why did it work this time? What went right? And what can we all do now to make our world democratic once again? An energetic account of contemporary events, The Democracy Project will change the way you think about anarchism and political organization.David Graeber is a radical anthropologist at Goldsmiths, University of London, who has been involved with the Occupy movement, most actively at Wall Street. He has written for many publications including Harper's, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, and The Guardian. He is also the author, most recently, of the widely praised Debt: The First 5,000 Years, as well as many books on social organization and revolution including Towards an Anthropological Theory of Value, Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology, Direct Action: An Ethnography.'I have twice given away David Graeber's Debt: The First 5,000 Years, and Christmas will not change my habits. The book is more readable and entertaining than I can indicate' Peter Carey, Observer, Books of the Year'Debt:The First 5,000 Years by Goldsmiths College anthropologist David Graeber has become one of the year's most influential books' Paul Mason, Guardian Books of 2011

The classic work on debt, now is a special tenth anniversary edition with a new introduction by Thomas Piketty 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 evidence to support it.Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that for more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods—that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors. Graeber shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Italy to China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like “guilt,” “sin,” and “redemption”) derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong. We are still fighting these battles today without knowing it. Debt: The First 5,000 Years is a fascinating chronicle of this little known history—as well as how it has defined human history. It shows how debt has defined our human past, and what that means for our economic future.

Altings begyndelse er en radikalt anderledes tolkning af menneskehedens historie, som udfordrer vores mest grundlæggende antagelser om, hvordan samfund og stater har udviklet sig siden istiden. Med en ny forståelse af, hvorfor man begyndte at dyrke landbrug og flytte sammen i byer, og hvordan der opstod stater, demokratier og ulighed, afdækker bogen også nye muligheder for, hvordan mennesket kan blive friere. Altings begyndelse forandrer grundlæggende vores forståelse af menneskehedens fortid og viser os en vej frem mod nye former for frihed, og nye måder at indrette samfundet på. Dette er et monumentalt værk med et imponerende intellektuelt vingefang, drevet af nysgerrighed, etik og tro på menneskets muligheder.

David Graeber's influential thinking was always at odds with the liberal and left-wing mainstream. Drawing on his huge theoretical and practical experience as an ethnologist and anthropologist, activist and anarchist, Graeber and his interlocutors develop a ramified genealogy of anarchist thought and possible perspectives for 21st-century politics. Diverging from the familiar lines of historical anarchism, and against the background of movements such as Occupy Wall Street and the Gilets jaunes, the aim is to provide new political impulses that go beyond the usual schemata of unavoidableness. The spontaneous and swift-moving polylogue shows Graeber as a spirited, unorthodox thinker and radical activist for whom the group can always achieve more than the individual.

"Brudstykker af en anarkistisk antropologi" er en lille bog med store tanker om en mulig anden verden. I et syvdelt essay reflekterer antropologen David Graeber over samtidens politiske bevægelser, den anarkistiske politiske filosofi og antropologiens enestående position som levende samfundsvidenskab. I korte manifester og tankeeksperimenter stilles der spørgsmålstegn ved aspekter af vores levevis, vi tager for givet. Samtidigt viser eksempler fra antropologien, at mennesker både har levet og fortsat lever på måder, der er mere frie fra hierarkier, statsmagt og undertrykkelse end den kapitalistiske samfundsform. På vejen samler Graeber brudstykkerne til en begyndende anarkistisk antropologi, der endnu ikke findes i samlet form. Bogen er spændende læsning for alle, der er interesserede i, hvordan et alternativt samfund kunne se ud.David Graeber (1961-2020) var en amerikansk antropolog og anarkist. Hans indflydelsesrige arbejde inden for økonomisk antropologi med bøgerne "Debt: The First 5000 Years" (2011) og "Bullshit Jobs" (2018) gjorde ham - sammen med hans fremtrædende rolle i Occupy-bevægelsen - til en af tiden mest anerkendte antropologer og venstrefløjstænkere. Frem til Graebers tidlige død i 2020 skrev han hundredvis af artikler, et dusin bøger, og dedikerede sit liv til både undervisning, forskning og aktivisme.

In anthropology, as much as in the current popular imagination, kings remain figures of fascination and intrigue. As the cliche goes, kings continue to die spectacular deaths only to remain subjects of vitality and long life. This collection of essays by a teacher and his student -- two of the world's most distinguished anthropologists-- explores what kingship actually is, historically and anthropologically. The divine, the stranger, the numinous, the bestial--the implications for understanding kings and their sacred office are not limited to questions of sovereignty, but issues ranging from temporality and alterity to piracy and utopia; indeed, the authors argue that kingship offers us a unique window into the understanding fundamental dilemmas concerning the very nature of power, meaning, and the human condition. Besides general theoretical reflections, several essays included in the volume focus on particular case studies-- the BaKongo, Aztec, Shilluk, 18th century pirate kings of Madagascar, and others--though each also contains comparative material drawn from many other cases besides. With a jointly written critical introduction, richly framed with the wit and sharp analysis characteristic of these two thinkers, this volume opens up new avenues for how an anthropological study of kingship might proceed in the twenty-first century.

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 romanticism, respond with silence...

Today''s capitalist systems appear to be coming apart. But as financial instutions stagger and crumble, leaving chaos in their wake, their seems to be no obvious alternative. Yet there may be good reason to believe that, in generation or so, capitalism will no longer exist for the simple reason that it''s impossible to maintain an engine of perpetual growth forever on a finite planet. In this collection of essays, anthropolgist David Graeber explores political strategy, global trade, debt,imagination, violence, alienation and creativity looking for a new common sense.