Debt The First 5,000 Years,Updated and Expanded
Debt: The First 5,000 Years, Updated and Expanded by David Graeber, published by Melville House on October 28, 2014, is a comprehensive exploration of the historical relationship between debt and society. This edition spans 560 pages and delves into the concept that debt predates money, tracing its roots back to the earliest agrarian empires. Graeber presents a thought-provoking analysis that challenges conventional views on economics, illustrating how the dynamics of debt and credit have shaped human interactions and societal structures throughout history.
Readers will find that Graeber examines the implications of debt in various contexts, from political debates in Renaissance Italy to insurrections influenced by economic disparities. He connects ancient legal and religious language to contemporary discussions about morality and justice, revealing how deeply entrenched these concepts are in our understanding of debt. This updated edition invites readers to reconsider their perspectives on economics and social history, making it a significant contribution to the fields of business and economic theory.
Official synopsis Publisher
The groundbreaking international best-seller that turns everything you think about money, debt, and society on its head—from the “brilliant, deeply original political thinker” David Graeber (Rebecca Solnit, author of Men Explain Things to Me)
Before there was money, there was debt. 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 that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors—which lives on in full force to this day.
So says anthropologist David Graeber in a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom. He shows that arguments about debt and debt forgiveness have been at the center of political debates from Renaissance Italy to Imperial 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.
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