David Graeber

David Graeber
source
Name	David Graeber
Birth date	February 12, 1961
Birth place	New York City
Death date	September 2, 2020
Death place	Venice
Nationality	American
Fields	Anthropology, Sociology, History

David Graeber was an American anthropologist, anarchist, and social critic who made significant contributions to the fields of anthropology, sociology, and history. He was a professor at the London School of Economics and a fellow of the British Academy. Graeber's work was influenced by Marxism, anarchism, and post-structuralism, and he was associated with the Global Justice Movement and the Occupy Wall Street movement. He was also a member of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

● Early Life and Education

Graeber was born in New York City and grew up in a family of socialists and trade unionists. He attended Phillips Academy and later studied anthropology at the University of Chicago, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree. He then moved to the University of Chicago to pursue his graduate studies, earning his Master of Arts and Ph.D. in anthropology under the supervision of Sherry Ortner and Marshall Sahlins. During his time at the University of Chicago, Graeber was influenced by the work of Clifford Geertz, Victor Turner, and Pierre Bourdieu.

● Career

Graeber began his academic career as a professor at Yale University, where he taught anthropology and sociology. He later moved to the London School of Economics, where he became a professor of anthropology and a fellow of the British Academy. Graeber was also a visiting professor at Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and Goldsmiths, University of London. He was a member of the American Anthropological Association, the Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth, and the Society for Cultural Anthropology.

● Anthropological Work

Graeber's anthropological work focused on the study of social inequality, power dynamics, and cultural critique. He conducted fieldwork in Madagascar and Mauritius, and his research explored the intersection of anthropology, history, and sociology. Graeber was influenced by the work of Karl Marx, Michel Foucault, and Pierre Bourdieu, and he drew on the ideas of Max Weber, Émile Durkheim, and Georg Simmel. He was also interested in the work of anthropologists such as Bronisław Malinowski, Margaret Mead, and Clifford Geertz.

● Activism and Politics

Graeber was a prominent figure in the Global Justice Movement and the Occupy Wall Street movement. He was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World and the Anarchist Federation. Graeber was also involved in the anti-globalization movement and the alter-globalization movement, and he participated in protests against the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. He was influenced by the ideas of Mikhail Bakunin, Peter Kropotkin, and Emma Goldman, and he drew on the work of socialists such as Rosa Luxemburg and Antonio Gramsci.

● Major Works and Ideas

Graeber's major works include Debt: The First 5,000 Years, The Utopia of Rules, and Bullshit Jobs: A Theology. He was also the author of Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology and Lost People: Magic and the Legacy of Slavery in Madagascar. Graeber's ideas about bullshit jobs and the fetishization of bureaucracy were widely discussed, and his work on debt and economic anthropology was influential in the fields of economics and sociology. He was also interested in the work of thinkers such as Jean Baudrillard, Gilles Deleuze, and Félix Guattari.

● Death and Legacy

Graeber died on September 2, 2020, in Venice, Italy. His death was met with an outpouring of tributes from academics, activists, and writers around the world. Graeber's legacy continues to be felt in the fields of anthropology, sociology, and history, and his work remains widely read and influential. He is remembered as a public intellectual and a social critic who was committed to social justice and human rights. Graeber's work has been recognized by institutions such as the American Anthropological Association, the Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth, and the Society for Cultural Anthropology. Category:American anthropologists