Debt, 10th Anniversary Edition
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Debt, 10th Anniversary Edition by David Graeber
The classic work on debt, now is a special tenth anniversary edition with a new introduction by Thomas PikettyBefore there was money, there was debt.
Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter systems--to relieve ancient people from having to haul their goods to market. The problem with this version of history? There's not a shred of evidence to support it.
Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that for more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods--that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era, Graeber argues, that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors.
Graeber shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Italy to China, as well as sparking innumerable insurrections. He also brilliantly demonstrates that the language of the ancient works of law and religion (words like "guilt," "sin," and "redemption") derive in large part from ancient debates about debt, and shape even our most basic ideas of right and wrong. We are still fighting these battles today without knowing it.
Debt: The First 5,000 Years is a fascinating chronicle of this little known history--as well as how it has defined human history. It shows how debt has defined our human past, and what that means for our economic future.
David Graeber is a Goldsmiths University of London Reader in Anthropology. Debt: The First 5000 Years, Direct Action: An Ethnography, and Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Currency of Our Own Dreams are only a few of his publications.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781612199337 |
| ISBN 10 | 161219933X |
| Title | Debt, 10th Anniversary Edition |
| Author | David Graeber |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Melville House Publishing |
| Year published | 2021-05-25 |
| Number of pages | 560 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |