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Toward An Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Coin of Our Own Dreams, by D. Graeber
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This volume is the first comprehensive synthesis of economic, political, and cultural theories of value. David Graeber reexamines a century of anthropological thought about value and exchange, in large measure to find a way out of ongoing quandaries in current social theory, which have become critical at the present moment of ideological collapse in the face of Neoliberalism. Rooted in an engaged, dynamic realism, Graeber argues that projects of cultural comparison are in a sense necessarily revolutionary projects: He attempts to synthesize the best insights of Karl Marx and Marcel Mauss, arguing that these figures represent two extreme, but ultimately complementary, possibilities in the shape such a project might take. Graeber breathes new life into the classic anthropological texts on exchange, value, and economy. He rethinks the cases of Iroquois wampum, Pacific kula exchanges, and the Kwakiutl potlatch within the flow of world historical processes, and recasts value as a model of human meaning-making, which far exceeds rationalist/reductive economist paradigms.
- Sales Rank: #191264 in Books
- Published on: 2001-11
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.50" h x .79" w x 5.50" l, 1.06 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 337 pages
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
About the Author
DAVID GRAEBER received his doctorate from University of Chicago in 1996, based on two years of fieldwork in Madagascar. He has written a variety of articles for the journal In These Times and has taught at Haverford and Yale. Professor Graeber is currently working on an ethnography of direct action as well as working with the Direct Action Network, People's Global Action, and Ya Basta!.
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Sniffs out the trail then loses it
By Joshua Leeger
This is a good, thought-provoking book. But, as another reviewer noted, the writing style makes it so difficult to read that in the end I wondered if my effort was worth the result. And in the final analysis, it was less fulfilling than I'd expected.
About the first quarter of the book is comprised of a review and critique of historical economic, anthropological and philosophical theories of value. Eventually, Graeber settles on Munn and Turner's theories to some extent, which are summarized succinctly in the title of Chapter 3 - "Value as the Importance of Actions." Earlier in the book Graeber also makes a distinction in the way in which our language tends to reify action-concepts (verbs become nouns), which is an extremely useful concept that is never revisited.
Leading up to Chapter 3, Graeber states that he thinks a better theory (he never states a theory, by the way, the book is "TOWARD an anthropological theory...") of value is one based on action. He calls it a "Heraclitean" approach, and briefly summarizes the split between Heraclitus' and Parmenides' theories of the nature of reality ("all is flux" vs. "all is One" - or "becoming" vs. "being," respectively), and the history of philosophy and science that resulted from Parmenides' victory.
This is where things go south. Graeber says that the Heraclitean tradition was revitalized in modern times by Hegel and Marx, and that the modern Dialectical tradition is a result. But Heraclitus was not a dialectician. Dialectic hadn't been invented yet. Zeno did that, potentially after Heraclitus' death. More importantly, the undisputed master of dialectic was Socrates, and Socrates falls within the Platonic tradition, and Plato is a descendent of the Parmenidean world-view. The only (modern...and maybe only, period) disciple of Heraclitus is probably Goethe. Nietzsche could take a close second if he'd ever been a philosopher of ontology, but he was mostly just a critic of ontological theories (though he did side with Heraclitus).
From this point forward Graeber spins in several other directions, touching occasionally back on his (toward-a) theory of value as action. Unfortunately he never fleshes this idea out fully. I think his statement of value-as-action is the true "value" of this book. Language in our culture does tend to reify actions. It would be much more fruitful, I think, to understand the history of value-theory, but then to leave it behind in favor of the simple idea that "value" is a reification/nominalization of a process called "valuing."
From that view, "value" is a snapshot of the process of valuing, or a concept-bucket that can be filled when the process of valuing moves through it. Explorations from that perspective bear much more fruit than Graeber's, which attempts to cobble together bits of past theories (all of which resist being broken and cobbled, which Graeber admits) into some new synthesis.
39 of 41 people found the following review helpful.
fantastic
By A Customer
Graeber's book is not only a welcome addition to the anthropological literature on value; his work also goes well beyond simple exposition of Durkheim, Mauss, Marx and Malinowski and does what most authors should: make this book not only relevant to a wide variety of concerns but propose a theory that can lead you to change your view of the world if you take it seriously. Reading this book brought me to look at further works by Caille, Godbout and others working with the aptly named and little known MAUSS group in France; Graeber's book has been not only good to read, but good to think.
The one serious criticism I have (hence 4, not 5 stars, I would give 4.5+ if I could) is that Graeber needs an editor; not to clean up typos but to clarify his style. He keeps almost everything he writes tentative by qualifying everything in a conversational and hesitant style. Hesitation is not the same as prudence! This detracts so seriously from the real pleasure I gained from reading the book that I considered giving up before the end; if this book had been written with more attention to those issues of style, I would have stayed up all night to finish reading it the first day I received it.
Written at a time when the so-called "linguistic" (i.e. litcrit) turn has made many outside of anthropology question its relevance to larger issues (or to believe it had been superseded by literary "Cultural Studies" departments, Graeber has made a case for a sophisticated, relevant and engaged anthropology that doesn't simply limit itself in area studies or make itself irrelevant to contemporaneous worlds in a misguided positivism; his book keeps open the very human questions of value and action in our historically contingent and yet imagined worlds.
36 of 38 people found the following review helpful.
The kula-est book you'll find!
By Donald Braman
Value, reciprocity, and exchange are making a big comeback and deservedly so. Graeber's book is a fascinating trip through the literature (both the good and the bad) with his own persuasive and original theory thrown in to boot. Graeber deserves thanks for the former and does it one better with the latter.
You should be forewarned, though, Graeber is . . . an anthropologist! I know, I can hear you saying: "No! Surely they all died of self-reflection during the postmodern plagues! Are there really any still alive?" One of Graeber's great accomplishments is that he actually understands and can talk about in plain language - even with flair and humor - the important theoretical issues that others have attacked and obscured using indecipherable jargon and nonsense verse.
More suprising still, he makes topics that drive most people to tears of boredom seem not only interesting, but relevant. If you've no idea what a potlatch is or what the kula is all about, Graeber tells you not only how they work, but why you should care.
Most importantly, then, this is not just a nice book of theory & it's not just a pleasure to read. It's about really important stuff, the stuff that makes life both possible and meaningful. If you want depth and breadth of analysis about how social life shapes meaning and quality of life, forget Putnam and social capital; this is a far deeper and more important work. This is anthropology as it should be: rich, lucid, and open to all comers.
Highly recommended.
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