In his latest book David Graeber reflects the occupy movement, where he was involved from the beginnings in New York (Occupy Wall Street). He reviews how the movement emerged and why it was successful, in contrast with many earlier attempts. Among the reasons he finds that it was crucial not to put forward concrete political demands, which could have been worked up by the political apparatus. As main discontent of the 99% he identifies bribery which he shows to be common among the 1%. His analysis of this situation goes back to the historical origins of the United States, which has not been conceived of as a democracy, but rather was thought as an aristocracy. Going even further into history he finds the military origins of democracy in ancient Greece. Contrary to this popularized notion of democracy he uncovers a different one which has existed even longer and has been common in human history, which does not rely on counting votes usually, but on consensus. A great deal of the book is conerned with the question what we can learn both from history and the latest movements.

Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Appeared: April 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8129-9356-1 (0-8129-9356-X)
With bibliographical references and index