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 critical at the present moment of ideological collapse in the face of Neoliberalism. Rooted in an engaged, dynamic realism, Graeber argues that projects of cultural comparison are in a sense necessarily revolutionary projects: He attempts to synthesize the best insights of Karl Marx and Marcel Mauss, arguing that these figures represent two extreme, but ultimately complementary, possibilities in the shape such a project might take. Graeber breathes new life into the classic anthropological texts on exchange, value, and economy. He rethinks the cases of Iroquois wampum, Pacific kula exchanges, and the Kwakiutl potlatch within the flow of world historical processes, and recasts value as a model of human meaning-making, which far exceeds rationalist/reductive economist paradigms.
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About the Author
David Graeber teaches anthropology at Yale University. He is currently writing an ethnography of direct action as well as working with the Direct Action Network, People's Global Action, and Ya Basta!.
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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Graeber's book is not only a welcome addition to the anthropological literature on value; his work also goes well beyond simple exposition of Durkheim, Mauss, Marx and Malinowski and does what most authors should: make this book not only relevant to a wide variety of concerns but propose a theory that can lead you to change your view of the world if you take it seriously. Reading this book brought me to look at further works by Caille, Godbout and others working with the aptly named and little known MAUSS group in France; Graeber's book has been not only good to read, but good to think.
The one serious criticism I have (hence 4, not 5 stars, I would give 4.5+ if I could) is that Graeber needs an editor; not to clean up typos but to clarify his style. He keeps almost everything he writes tentative by qualifying everything in a conversational and hesitant style. Hesitation is not the same as prudence! This detracts so seriously from the real pleasure I gained from reading the book that I considered giving up before the end; if this book had been written with more attention to those issues of style, I would have stayed up all night to finish reading it the first day I received it.
Written at a time when the so-called "linguistic" (i.e. litcrit) turn has made many outside of anthropology question its relevance to larger issues (or to believe it had been superseded by literary "Cultural Studies" departments, Graeber has made a case for a sophisticated, relevant and engaged anthropology that doesn't simply limit itself in area studies or make itself irrelevant to contemporaneous worlds in a misguided positivism; his book keeps open the very human questions of value and action in our historically contingent and yet imagined worlds.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Value, reciprocity, and exchange are making a big comeback and deservedly so. Graeber's book is a fascinating trip through the literature (both the good and the bad) with his own persuasive and original theory thrown in to boot. Graeber deserves thanks for the former and does it one better with the latter.
You should be forewarned, though, Graeber is . . . an anthropologist! I know, I can hear you saying: "No! Surely they all died of self-reflection during the postmodern plagues! Are there really any still alive?" One of Graeber's great accomplishments is that he actually understands and can talk about in plain language - even with flair and humor - the important theoretical issues that others have attacked and obscured using indecipherable jargon and nonsense verse.
More suprising still, he makes topics that drive most people to tears of boredom seem not only interesting, but relevant. If you've no idea what a potlatch is or what the kula is all about, Graeber tells you not only how they work, but why you should care.
Most importantly, then, this is not just a nice book of theory & it's not just a pleasure to read. It's about really important stuff, the stuff that makes life both possible and meaningful. If you want depth and breadth of analysis about how social life shapes meaning and quality of life, forget Putnam and social capital; this is a far deeper and more important work. This is anthropology as it should be: rich, lucid, and open to all comers.
Highly recommended.
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Graeber is extremely erudite but never overbearing. His logic is complex, impeccable, and totalizing. And he has with easy grace wrung new meanings and infused new life into classic anthropological cases and works that hitherto have existed simply to torment fledgeling social science graduate students taking courses on veteran scholars like Mauss, Durkheim, Marx, and Weber.
What he is suggesting massively changes the way we look at cultural systems of value, exchange, and meaning. These ideas (and perhaps the author's politics) are revolutionary, yet you cannot come away from a reading (or re-reading--be prepared to take some time with this in order to understand all of the issues at stake) of this book without feeling that it all makes perfect sense.
If you are ready to read an academic book that really challenges the way you look at the economy you are part of, this may be the one for you.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
everybody should read this
but some will need a more patient friend to summarize the more important points. Takes resolve and patience but worth it.
Published 18 days ago by Steven Rich
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good book
Needed the book for grad school. It was in good shape and easy to navigate.
Published on December 30, 2009 by Shannyn Bishop Snyder
5.0 out of 5 stars
a new classic
This is a book that I suspect will be assigned in many anthropology classes & derservedly so. It should (but probably won't) also be assigned in most economics classes. Read more
Published on February 22, 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
about time!
not having yet read more than a few pages of mr. graeber's work, i can already wholeheartedly agree with him when he says it is the only readable book on the subject.
Published on January 17, 2002
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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10
books
cite this book:
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- Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Bronislaw Malinowski on page 6, page 164, and Back Matter
- Culture and Practical Reason by Marshall Sahlins on page 14, and Back Matter
- Radical Sociology of Durkheim and Mauss by Mike Gane in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Dealing with Inequality: Analysing Gender Relations in Melanesia and Beyond by Marilyn Strathern in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Marcel Mauss: A Centenary Tribute (Methodology and History in Anthropology) by Wendy James in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 100 books this book cites
- Becoming Sinners: Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society (Ethnographic Studies in Subjectivity) by Joel Robbins in Back Matter
- Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, and the Neoliberal City by Arlene Dávila in Back Matter
- Talking Prices: Symbolic Meanings of Prices on the Market for Contemporary Art (Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology) by Olav Velthuis in Back Matter
- Economies and Cultures: Foundations of Economic Anthropology by Richard R Wilk in Back Matter
- Inclusion and Exclusion in the Global Arena by Max Kirsch on page 90
See all 10 books citing this book
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