David Graeber
Born 12 February 1961 · Died 2 September 2020
David Rolfe Graeber (/ˈɡreɪbər/; February 12, 1961 – September 2, 2020) was an American anthropologist, anarchist activist and author known for his books Debt: The First 5000 Years (2011), The Utopia of Rules (2015) and Bullshit Jobs: A Theory (2018). He was a professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics.
As an assistant professor and associate professor of anthropology at Yale from 1998–2007 he specialised in theories of value and social theory. The university's decision not to rehire him when he would otherwise have become eligible for tenure sparked an academic controversy, and a petition with more than 4,500 signatures. He went on to become, from 2007–13, Reader in Social Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London. (Source)
Quotes
“Direct action is the insistence, when faced with structures of unjust authority, on acting as if one is already free.”
Direct Action: An Ethnography Oakland: AK Press: 2009 , p. 203 “It's as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working.”
"Bullshit Jobs," August 2013 “It’s as if as a planetary civilization, we have decided to clap out hands over our ears and start humming whenever the topic comes up.”
The Utopia of Rules “What is a debt, anyway? A debt is just the perversion of a promise. It is a promise corrupted by both math and violence.”
p. 391 “Hell is a collection of individuals who spend their time working on a task they don't like and are not especially good at.”
"Bullshit Jobs," August 2013
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0), chosen with AI.
Books by David Graeber in order
Books by David Graeber in the order they were published, from Toward An Anthropological Theory of Value (2001) to Il n'y a jamais eu d'Occident (2026).
- 1Toward An Anthropological Theory of Value
Toward An Anthropological Theory of Value2001 - 2Lost People
Lost People2007 - 3Possibilities
Possibilities2007 - 4Direct Action
Direct Action2009 - 5Debt
Debt2011 - 6Revolutions in Reverse
Revolutions in Reverse2011 - 7The Democracy Project
The Democracy Project2012 - 8The Utopia of Rules
The Utopia of Rules2015 - 9Bullshit Jobs
Bullshit Jobs2018 - 10Why Work?
Why Work?2018 - 11Anarchy—In a Manner of Speaking
Anarchy—In a Manner of Speaking2020 - 12The Dawn of Everything
The Dawn of Everything2021 - 13Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia
Pirate Enlightenment, or the Real Libertalia2023 - 14Cities Made Differently
Cities Made Differently2024 - 15Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World
Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World2024 - 16Bullshit Jobs: A Work RantBullshit Jobs: A Work Rant2025
- 17Il n'y a jamais eu d'Occident
Il n'y a jamais eu d'Occident2026 - 18Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology
Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology