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


  • The Mapping Project
    The Revolution Will Not Be Signaled
    12 Mar 2025
    The messaging app Signal is touted as being a safe harbor from state surveillance. However, its connections to large corporate entities make organizers more vulnerable than they may think.
  • Briahna Joy Gray
    Why Did MSNBC Cancel Joy Reid?
    12 Mar 2025
    Some speculated that racism explains the firing of the liberal anchor. But MSNBC doesn't have a problem with Black hosts. They have a problem with pro-Palestine ones.
  • Sharon Zhang
    Israel Wiped Out at Least 1,200 Entire Families in Gaza, Analysis Finds
    12 Mar 2025
    The horrible toll of Israel's genocide in Gaza is still being revealed. There are also at least 3,400 families with only one surviving member, Palestinian officials have said.
  • Working Families Party
    David K. Cobb
    The Working Families Party and Fusion Voting: A Historical and Political Analysis
    12 Mar 2025
    The Working Families Party presents itself as a political party that works for the interest of working class people. However, the party behaves more like a sheepdog for the Democratic party.
  • Black Agenda Radio
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Black Agenda Radio March 7, 2025
    07 Mar 2025
    In this week’s segment we discuss the continued genocide in Gaza despite the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us