Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

The Origins of Debt, Money, Slavery and Empire
21 Sep 2011
🖨️ Print Article

Like most of us, you probably learned in school that people invented money to replace barter, markets are guided by The Invisible Hand, and a debt is a kind of sacred promise.  Like much else you learned in school, says anthropologist David Graeber, this is wrong.  Markets are constructed by states, while the appearance of debt, slavery and money in human affairs coincide with the appearance of violent empires, and recede when empires are in decline.  Debts are only sacred, Graeber explains, when the poor owe the rich, and there are key distinctions between debts and promises.  Graeber, the author of Debt: The First 5,000 Years is interviewed by C.S. Soong on KPFA's Against the Grain...

The Origins of Debt, Money, Slavery and Empire

An Against the Grain Interview by C.S. Soong and Sasha Lilley

KPFA.s Against the Grain is consistently one of the best interview shows around.  We at BAR steal ideas from them all the time.  You can find a link to Debt: The First 5,000 Years here.



Your browser does not support the audio element.

listen
http://www.againstthegrain.org/files/files/atg/atg_2013.01.07_graeber.mp3

More Stories


  • ESSAY: Racial Genocide: The Case of the Martinsville Seven, William L. Patterson, 1969
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    ESSAY: Racial Genocide: The Case of the Martinsville Seven, William L. Patterson, 1969
    24 Aug 2022
    For Black August, read William L. Patterson on racial genocide, the law, and the Martinsville Seven.
  • The U.S. Legacy in Afghanistan: War Crimes and Imperialist Double Standards
    Danny Haiphong, BAR Contributing Editor
    The U.S. Legacy in Afghanistan: War Crimes and Imperialist Double Standards
    24 Aug 2022
    One year ago the U.S. was ousted from Afghanistan after making war on that country for 20 years. But the U.S. killed civilians as it left and stole Afghanistan's assets. It seems there is no end to…
  • Wizard of Oz redux—  …and some casting questions…
    Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Wizard of Oz redux— …and some casting questions…
    24 Aug 2022
                                                           …
  • BAR Book Forum: Boukary Sawadogo’s Book, “Africans in Harlem”
    Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Boukary Sawadogo’s Book, “Africans in Harlem”
    24 Aug 2022
    This week’s featured author is Boukary Sawadogo. Sawadogo is Associate Professor of Cinema Studies and Black Studies at City College–City University of New York. His book is Africans in Harlem: An…
  • “Revolutionary Organizing: An Interview with Ahjamu Umi”
    Ahjamu Umi , Roberto Sirvent
    “Revolutionary Organizing: An Interview with Ahjamu Umi”
    24 Aug 2022
    Ahjamu Umi and Roberto Sirvent discuss revolutionary organizing.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us