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davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
David Graeber Institute
@davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
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A platform for projects related to David Graeber’s legacy, developing his ideas and projects that will take on a life of their own, continuing and contributing to his work.

https://davidgraeber.institute
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David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst.bsky.social · 8d
There will be an online event by the David Graeber Institute on December 8th.

Cory Doctorow and Brian Eno will speak about poetic technologies and the work of David Graeber

Save The Date!

www.youtube.com/live/4-AlIT-...
Cory Doctorow and Brian Eno on Poetic technologies
The discussion will explore social technologies — how technology and social relations shape each other. This project is part of our broader public outreach, linking conversation and theory with practi...
www.youtube.com
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Erich Fromm once wrote a book called Fear Of Freedom.

Here David Graeber relates some of Fromm's ideas to the modern world of work.
November 25, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
There are a lot of misconceptions about peoples' desire to work and to contribute.
UBI is expensive, but so is the system we have now and there’s a major savings that you’ll have firing all those people who are assessing who is worthy of what. Philosophically, I think that it’s really important to bear in mind two things. One is it’ll show people that you don’t have to force people to work, to want to contribute. It’s not that people resist work. People resist meaningless work; people resist stupid work; and people resist humiliating work. But I always talk about prisons, where people are fed, clothed, they’ve got shelter; they could just sit around all day. But actually, they use work as a way of rewarding them. You know, if you don’t behave yourself, we won’t let you work in the prison laundry. I mean, people want to work. Nobody just wants to sit around, it’s boring. . - David Graeber
November 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Benjamin Paloff, writer and academic, shared insights from his latest book, Bakhtin’s Adventure: An Essay on Life without Meaning. Watch the full lecture on our YouTube channel to explore Bakhtin's world.
November 25, 2025 at 4:56 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
There are a lot of misconceptions about peoples' desire to work and to contribute.
UBI is expensive, but so is the system we have now and there’s a major savings that you’ll have firing all those people who are assessing who is worthy of what. Philosophically, I think that it’s really important to bear in mind two things. One is it’ll show people that you don’t have to force people to work, to want to contribute. It’s not that people resist work. People resist meaningless work; people resist stupid work; and people resist humiliating work. But I always talk about prisons, where people are fed, clothed, they’ve got shelter; they could just sit around all day. But actually, they use work as a way of rewarding them. You know, if you don’t behave yourself, we won’t let you work in the prison laundry. I mean, people want to work. Nobody just wants to sit around, it’s boring. . - David Graeber
November 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
krauza.bsky.social
America is a country made possible by hucksterism and carnival buncombe. It's the birthplace of both modern PR and advertising, the first place on earth to apply techniques of commercial marketing to politics, and a country where the economy has been driven by the engine of finance, that is, by the magical creation of wealth through financial securities and derivatives. When you consider those U.S. companies that still produce commodities now devote themselves mainly to developing brands and images, you realize that American capitalism conjures value into being chiefly by convincing everyone it's there. David Graeber
November 23, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Why is the priority of the economy not to house the homeless and ensure everyone has good healthcare?
it used to be the economy was the way we provide people with food shelters and other necessities to keep them alive. now we are all supposed to die for the sake of the ecomy. What is this thing they are talking about. is it just code for rich people. class power, or what.
November 23, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Neo-Liberalism has been a disaster leading to Giant Monopolies like we've never seen before!

Cory Doctorow explains the consequences of 40+ years of Neo-Liberal policies and deregulation of competition law.
November 23, 2025 at 7:25 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Neo-Liberalism has been a disaster leading to Giant Monopolies like we've never seen before!

Cory Doctorow explains the consequences of 40+ years of Neo-Liberal policies and deregulation of competition law.
November 23, 2025 at 7:25 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Why is the priority of the economy not to house the homeless and ensure everyone has good healthcare?
it used to be the economy was the way we provide people with food shelters and other necessities to keep them alive. now we are all supposed to die for the sake of the ecomy. What is this thing they are talking about. is it just code for rich people. class power, or what.
November 23, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
We recently published a lesser known article by David Graeber written in 2013 called - Buncombe.

Here is the piece and an extract.

davidgraeber.org/articles/bun...
"America is a country made possible by hucksterism and carnival buncombe. It's the birthplace of both modern PR and advertising, the first place on earth to apply techniques of commercial marketing to politics, and a country where, for at least thirty years, the economy has been driven by the engine of finance, that is, by the magical creation of wealth through financial securities and derivatives. When you consider those U.S companies that still produce commodities now devote themselves mainly to developing brands and images, you realize that American capitalism conjures value into being chiefly by convincing everyone it’s there." . - David Graeber
November 21, 2025 at 2:26 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
We recently published a lesser known article by David Graeber written in 2013 called - Buncombe.

Here is the piece and an extract.

davidgraeber.org/articles/bun...
"America is a country made possible by hucksterism and carnival buncombe. It's the birthplace of both modern PR and advertising, the first place on earth to apply techniques of commercial marketing to politics, and a country where, for at least thirty years, the economy has been driven by the engine of finance, that is, by the magical creation of wealth through financial securities and derivatives. When you consider those U.S companies that still produce commodities now devote themselves mainly to developing brands and images, you realize that American capitalism conjures value into being chiefly by convincing everyone it’s there." . - David Graeber
November 21, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Neo-liberalism is build on myths. One such myth is that their laissez-faire and "free market" policies will reduce bureaucracy.
"The idea that the market is somehow opposed to and independent of government has been used at least since the 19th century to justify laissez-faire economic policies, but such policies never actually have the effect of lessening the role of government. In late 19th century England, for instance, an increasingly liberal society did not lead to a reduction of state bureaucracy but the opposite: an endlessly mushrooming array of legal clerks, registrars, inspectors, notaries, and police officials."
November 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
nikadubrovsky.bsky.social
Working-class Americans now generally believe government to comprise two sorts of people: "politicians," who are blustering crooks and liars but can at least occasionally be voted out of office, and "bureaucrats," who are condescending elitists and almost impossible to uproot.
November 20, 2025 at 10:54 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Neo-liberalism is build on myths. One such myth is that their laissez-faire and "free market" policies will reduce bureaucracy.
"The idea that the market is somehow opposed to and independent of government has been used at least since the 19th century to justify laissez-faire economic policies, but such policies never actually have the effect of lessening the role of government. In late 19th century England, for instance, an increasingly liberal society did not lead to a reduction of state bureaucracy but the opposite: an endlessly mushrooming array of legal clerks, registrars, inspectors, notaries, and police officials."
November 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Yes
Yes
November 19, 2025 at 3:02 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Yes
Yes
November 19, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
errorcrater.bsky.social
david graeber's book is sustaining me right now in this cursed timeline. i read two sentences at a time and have to put it down with my hand over my heart
photo of hardcover copy of "the ultimate hidden truth of the world" by david graeber, bold black font on yellow background
November 18, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
For those wondering why the Labour Government is behaving the way it is - here is a clue.
The 1 thing ive come to learn about the uk is that the tories are the state with labour occasionally tolerated as long as it is basically pursuing a tory agenda.
November 18, 2025 at 12:53 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
For those wondering why the Labour Government is behaving the way it is - here is a clue.
The 1 thing ive come to learn about the uk is that the tories are the state with labour occasionally tolerated as long as it is basically pursuing a tory agenda.
November 18, 2025 at 12:53 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
There will be an online event by the David Graeber Institute on December 8th.

Cory Doctorow and Brian Eno will speak about poetic technologies and the work of David Graeber

Save The Date!

www.youtube.com/live/4-AlIT-...
Cory Doctorow and Brian Eno on Poetic technologies
The discussion will explore social technologies — how technology and social relations shape each other. This project is part of our broader public outreach, linking conversation and theory with practi...
www.youtube.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Neo-Liberalism, Trickle-down economics, Thatcherism or whatever you call it really has more in common with fundamentalist religion than anything else.
"Mainstream economists nowadays might not be particularly good at predicting financial crashes, facilitating general prosperity, or coming up with models for preventing climate change, but when it comes to establishing themselves in positions of intellectual authority, unaffected by their failings, their success is unparalleled. One would have to look at the history of religions to find anything like it.
November 16, 2025 at 12:31 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
It is good to know about the history of Debt.
"David Graeber traced the long arc of civilisation through cycles of credit and violence. Periods of trust and mutual obligation gave way to eras of hierarchy, slavery, and debt peonage, when the moral logic of reciprocity was replaced by the coercive logic of repayment. Debt then became a weapon. Kings, priests, and empires used it to bind the powerless to the powerful. Today, that same dynamic persists: in the relationships between banks and households, creditors and governments, the global north and the global south. Debt is not merely financial; it is moralised subordination." . - Richard Murphy
November 16, 2025 at 2:56 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
"David Graeber was the anthropologist who re-framed economics by showing that its most basic assumptions were myths.

Where conventional economists traced money to barter and exchange, Graeber traced it to trust and relationships.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
Economic questions: The David Graeber question
This is one of a series of posts that will ask what the most pertinent question raised by a prominent influencer of political economy might have been, and what the relevance of that question might be ...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 16, 2025 at 1:58 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Neo-Liberalism, Trickle-down economics, Thatcherism or whatever you call it really has more in common with fundamentalist religion than anything else.
"Mainstream economists nowadays might not be particularly good at predicting financial crashes, facilitating general prosperity, or coming up with models for preventing climate change, but when it comes to establishing themselves in positions of intellectual authority, unaffected by their failings, their success is unparalleled. One would have to look at the history of religions to find anything like it.
November 16, 2025 at 12:31 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
As part of our work on David Graeber's favorite author, we held a talk with the academic Benjamin Paloff about the work of the author - Mikhail Bakhtin.

Here is the full video.

www.youtube.com/live/xOLDVq_...
Benjamin Paloff on Bakhtin's Adventure
YouTube video by Institute of David Graeber
www.youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:45 PM