Books – David Graeber

Debt: The First 5,000 Years

2011 Melville House Publishing

In this book, David Graeber reveals that before money, there was debt. For over 5,000 years, humans used credit systems to trade goods, predating coins or cash. Graeber argues this era saw the division of society into debtors and creditors. He also shows how debates on debt and forgiveness shaped political revolts and influenced law and religion, with terms like "guilt" and "redemption" rooted in ancient disputes, affecting modern beliefs.

First published 2011 Translations: Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Estonian, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

Bullshit Jobs

In 2013, David Graeber's essay “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs” asked if our jobs make a meaningful contribution to the world. It went viral, sparking global debate. In Bullshit Jobs, David examines how many roles—HR consultants, corporate lawyers, and more—are meaningless, highlighting how finance capitalism perpetuates this issue. The book calls for a cultural shift, valuing creative and caring work over empty tasks.

First published 2018 Translations: Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Dutch, English, English (UK), Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Slovene, Spanish, Turkish, Vietnamese

Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia

David Graeber's final posthumous work, Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia, explores the rich history of pirate societies and their influence on the Enlightenment. Rooted in David’s field research in Madagascar, the book examines how the Zana-Malata, descendants of pirates, practiced protodemocratic governance. Challenging the European-centric view of Enlightenment thought, David reveals non-European contributions to "Western" ideas and highlights alternative social orders that offer new possibilities for the future.

First published 2019 Translations: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Spanish

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike - either free and equal, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. David Graeber and David Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a reaction to indigenous critiques of European society, and why they are wrong. In doing so, they overturn our view of human history, including the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery and civilization itself.

First published 2021 Translations: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish

The Utopia of Rules

Where does the desire for endless rules, regulations, and bureaucracy come from? Why do we spend so much time filling out forms, and is it really a cipher for state violence? David Graeber explores these questions in The Utopia of Rules, revealing how bureaucracy shapes our lives in ways we might not notice. Combining social theory with popular culture, Graeber offers a powerful and entertaining analysis, challenging us to rethink the institutions that rule us and imagine a freer world.

First published 2015 Translations: Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, English, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish

Cities Made Differently

What makes a city a city? Who says? Drafted over decades out of a dialogue between artist and author Nika Dubrovsky, the late anthropologist David Graeber, and Nika's then four-year-old son, this delightful and provocative book Cities Made Differently opens a space for invention and collaboration. Fusing anthropology, literature, play, and drawing, the book is essentially a visual essay that asks us to reconsider our ideas about cities and the people who inhabit them. Drawing us into a world of history and myth, science and imagination, Graeber and Dubrovsky invite us to rethink the worlds we inhabit—because we can, and nothing is too strange or too wonderful to be true.

Translations: English, Russian

What are kings?

We've all read fairy tales about kings and queens, princes and princesses, dragons and castles. And it's all true! They really were! Okay, except for the dragons - there weren't any. But there are plenty of books written about them. Why write another one? If only to understand why we're so interested in kings and queens. Where did they come from and how do we know that we have one of them in front of us? What can kings do and what are they afraid of? Who is more powerful - kings or queens? And what is more important - a king or a kingdom? To put it bluntly, thinking about kings is very exciting, especially together with the authors of this book, anthropologist David Graeber and artist Nika Dubrovsky.

First published 2020 Translations: English, Russian, Thai

Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology

Everywhere anarchism is on the upswing as a political philosophy, 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 . . . . But what if they didn't? This pamphlet ponders what that response would be, and explores the implications of linking anthropology to anarchism. Here, David Graeber invites readers to imagine this discipline that currently only exists in the realm of possibility: anarchist anthropology.

First published 2004 Translations: Chinese (Simplified), Czech, Danish, English, French, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovene, Spanish, Turkish

Lost People: Magic and the Legacy of Slavery in Madagascar

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 historical, social, and cultural knowledge required to understand this event, he elaborates a new view of power, inequality, and the political role of narrative. Combining theoretical subtlety, a compelling narrative line, and vividly drawn characters, Lost People is a singular contribution to the anthropology of politics and the literature on ethnographic writing.

First published 2007 Translations: English, Russian

On Kings

In anthropology as much as in popular imagination, kings are figures of fascination and intrigue, heroes or tyrants in ways presidents and prime ministers can never be. This collection of essays by two of the world’s most distinguished anthropologists—David Graeber and Marshall Sahlins—explores what kingship actually is, historically and anthropologically. As they show, kings are symbols for more than just sovereignty: indeed, the study of kingship offers a unique window into fundamental dilemmas concerning the very nature of power, meaning, and the human condition.

First published 2017 Translations: English, French, German, Italian, Russian