Description
Book SynopsisThis volume is a synthesis of economic, political, and cultural theories of value. David Graeber re-examines a century of anthropological thought about value and exchange and argues that projects of cultural comparison are in a sense necessarily revolutionary projects.
Trade Review'I have not enjoyed or been so inspired by a work in anthropological theory for quite some time - I am convinced that this book is extremely important to the field of anthropology and to social theory more generally, offering alternatives to the relentlessly bleak theorizing of most post-structuralist and postmodernist critical theory - I think this book might well become a classic.' - Thomas Abercrombie, NYU
'David Graeber is probably the most exciting young anthropologist in the field today.' - Judith Friedlander, Dean of Social Sciences (Graduate Faculty), New School for Social Research
Table of ContentsA Few Words by Way of Introduction Three Ways of Thinking about Value Current Directions in Exchange Theory Value as the Importance of Actions Action and Reflection, or, Notes Toward a Theory of Wealth and Power Wampum and Social Creativity Among the Iroquois Marcel Mauss Revisited The False Coin of our Own Dreams, or, the Problem of the Fetish IIIb
