What Are Rules For? What Are Rules For?
A conversation with historian Lorraine Daston about her recent book on the history of rules and how they have structured life across centuries.
May 23, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Ishan Desai-Geller
The Hidden Treasures of Pirate Democracy The Hidden Treasures of Pirate Democracy
In his final book, David Graeber looks at an experiment in radical democracy and piratical justice in Madagascar.
Mar 21, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Marcus Rediker
David Graeber and David Wengrow’s Anarchist History of Humanity David Graeber and David Wengrow’s Anarchist History of Humanity
In The Dawn of Everything, Graeber and Wengrow offer a sweeping and ambitious exploration of life without the state.
Sep 20, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Daniel Immerwahr
That Was David Graeber That Was David Graeber
The anthropologist who coined “the 99 percent” and “bullshit jobs” died at age 59.
Sep 9, 2020 / Malcolm Harris
Letters From the June 15/22, 2020, Issue Letters From the June 15/22, 2020, Issue
Don’t blame the Boasians… Tilting at windmills… Dark recesses… The road already taken… Submerging the valley…
Jun 2, 2020 / Our Readers
The Long Shadow of Cultural Anthropology The Long Shadow of Cultural Anthropology
Franz Boas, Margaret Mead, and their circle sought to show the fallacy of biological and physical difference, but they also created new forms of categorization that reinforced thei...
May 5, 2020 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Wilson
Barbarian Virtues Barbarian Virtues
James Scott's search for the origins of the state.
Oct 5, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Samuel Moyn
The Political Uses of Malcolm X’s Image The Political Uses of Malcolm X’s Image
For Muslim youth, interest in the black freedom movement is part of a larger turn toward an American conception of race—it fills a political void and offers a sense of belonging. B...
Jul 12, 2016 / Hisham Aidi
Bad Intelligence Bad Intelligence
David Price’s long battle against anthropology’s collaborations with the national-security state.
Jun 16, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Peter C. Baker
Letters Letters
Korea seen clearly, the poop on the pipeline, a blast of fresh arctic air, Jared Diamond, Anthony Lewis again
Apr 30, 2013 / Our Readers and Stephen Wertheim