Comments on: In Rousseau’s footsteps: David Graeber and the anthropology of unequal society

By: 1049. notes january 18 – Doug Carmichael's reflections on GardenWorld Politics

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:10:53 +0000

[...] The Memory Bank » Blog Archive » In Rousseau’s footsteps: David Graeber and the anthropology of … [...]

By: 1049. notes january 18 « Doug Carmichael notes

1049. notes january 18 « Doug Carmichael notes — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:10:24 +0000

[...] The Memory Bank » Blog Archive » In Rousseau’s footsteps: David Graeber and the an… [...]

By: 1049. notes january 18 » GardenWorld Politics

1049. notes january 18 » GardenWorld Politics — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:09:01 +0000

[...] The Memory Bank » Blog Archive » In Rousseau’s footsteps: David Graeber and the an… [...]

By: 1049. Notes jan 18 « Doug Carmichael notes

1049. Notes jan 18 « Doug Carmichael notes — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:40:55 +0000

[...] The Memory Bank » Blog Archive » In Rousseau’s footsteps: David Graeber and the an… [...]

By: Obama and Kingship and mythic deep structure. – Doug Carmichael's reflections on GardenWorld Politics

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 06:27:55 +0000

[...] In Rousseau’s footsteps: David Graeber and the anthropology of unequal society [...]

By: In Rousseau’s (and Polanyi’s) Footsteps (Thoughts on Debt) | Savage Minds

In Rousseau’s (and Polanyi’s) Footsteps (Thoughts on Debt) | Savage Minds — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 05:09:20 +0000

[...] First 5,000 Years I got a nice email from Keith Hart, which reminded me I still hadn’t read his long review of David’s book which I’d bookmarked back in July. I was waiting till I read the book myself as I like to [...]

By: P2P Foundation » Blog Archive » The Anthropology of Unequal Society

P2P Foundation » Blog Archive » The Anthropology of Unequal Society — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 01:31:02 +0000

[...] Excerpted from a review by Keith Hart of David Graeber’s book: The First Five Thousand Years of Debt: [...]

By: Mega web roundup | Somatosphere

Mega web roundup | Somatosphere — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 18:54:02 +0000

[...] Rousseau’s footsteps: David Graeber and the anthropology of unequal society” by Keith Hart review of Debt: The first 5,000 years by David [...]

By: Biggest Anthropology Update Ever | Anthropology Report

Biggest Anthropology Update Ever | Anthropology Report — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:22:51 +0000

[...] In Rousseau’s footsteps: David Graeber and the anthropology of unequal society, Keith Hart Our world is still massively unequal and we may be entering a period of war and revolution comparable to the “Second Thirty Years War” of 1914-1945 which came after the last time that several decades of financial imperialism went bust. Capitalism itself sometimes seems today to have reverted to a norm of rent-seeking that resembles the arbitrary inequality of the Old Regime more than Victorian industry. The pursuit of economic democracy is more elusive than ever; yet humanity has also devised universal means of communication at last adequate to the expression of universal ideas. Jean-Jacques Rousseau would have leapt at the chance to make use of this opportunity and several illustrious successors did so in their own way during the last two centuries. We need an anthropology that rises to the challenge posed by our common human predicament today. No-one has done more to meet that challenge than David Graeber, in his work as a whole, but especially in this book. The Memory Bank, 4 July 2012 [...]

By: keith

keith — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 07:19:20 +0000

Thank you. These are all sustainable observations, but they are written from the point of view of David Graeber as an anarchist. I was placing him in an anthropological tradition that so far has only one advocate, me. So perhaps it was fanciful. I know the kind of reputation Rousseau has among people who have never read him and it doesn’t stop with romanticism. One reason for making this particular comparison was to encourage more people to read Rousseau, based on Graeber’s current popularity.

It would be interesting to know how widely known Proudhon is now outside anarchist circles (except for The Poverty of Philosophy), whereas everyone has heard of Rousseau, but also only through negative stereotypes peddled by Voltaire rather than Marx. So I understand why anarchists would want to link him to David, for similar reasons to mine.