David Graeber, ph.d

One of the few radically politically active anthropologists today is David Graeber, currently of Yale University. He has written some brilliant articles on the new generation of “anti-globalization” radicals, among who he has been doing some informal fieldwork of late.

Among his articles I can recommend his look upon the role of anarchism as a leftist ideology in the 21st century, his analysis of the original meaning of the French anthropologist Marcel Mauss’ classic article on reciprocity and his review of the development of a global anti-capitalism movement.

All of his writings are fiercely anti-capitalistic, wonderfully passionate, witty, honest and unusually easily read for such heavy academic material. I read his small book, Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology last year, and I found very it well worth the time.

If you like his articles, even if you do not agree with all of his ideas, maybe you would be interested in signing the petition started by local students to keep him at Yale, where the administration and faculty have refused to renew his two year teaching contract – apparently because of his political views.