Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Coin of Our Own Dreams

by David Graeber

Book Overview

Now a widely cited classic, 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 ongoing 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312240457
• ISBN13: 9780312240455
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
• Length: 337 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A good book

Needed the book for grad school. It was in good shape and easy to navigate.

The kula-est book you'll find!

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.

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. It's sophisticated yet accessible treatment of core disciplinary issues is something we can all be grateful for.

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.

Brilliant book! Graeber is a rising star in anthropology.

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.