Rest in power, David Graeber


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Anarchist anthropologist David Graeber has died at just 59-years-old. His books Debt: The First 5000 years and Bullshit Jobs: A Theory have influenced countless radicals and activists.

Defending Kurdistan

Graeber was also an activist, and passionately worked to raise awareness about the Kurdish struggle. There is no doubt that he influenced many people who might not have otherwise known about the ongoing repression of Kurdish people. He visited Rojava to witness first-hand the revolution, and he also visited the Kurdish region of Turkey, where he monitored the intense military harassment that the Kurdish people face when voting in elections.

In an interview with the Real News Network, Graeber explained how he became an anarchist, and went on to say how he was influenced by the Kurdish-led revolution in Rojava. He said:

My father fought in the Spanish civil wars, so I kind of grew up in a place where the memories of what happened in Spain in ’36, ’37, ’38 were very vivid. So one reason I came to be an anarchist is because, I always say, most people don’t think anarchism is a bad idea. They think it’s insane. No police, people just start killing each other. Nobody actually organized things without leaders.

And in fact, my father was in Barcelona when it was run by an anarchist principle. They just got rid of white collar workers, and sure enough they discovered these were basically bullshit jobs, that they didn’t make any difference if they weren’t there.

He continued:

So this is the first time, I think, since Spain, that you’ve had large area of territory [in Rojava] under the control of people who are trying to do that; trying to create bottom-up direct democracy without a state.

Smash patriarchy

Graeber was supportive of the bottom-up structure of the revolution in Rojava, known as democratic confederalism. He recognised that in order to smash capitalism, you need to need to smash patriarchy. He said:

Well, how do you get rid of patriarchy? Well, making sure all women have access to automatic weapons is one place to start. You really can’t push people around if they’re armed…

So they have direct democracy and that goes from these neighborhood councils, and those councils confederate into regional ones and then municipal ones, and they all send delegates, not representatives, to make decisions together in a big, elaborate system.

Jewish heritage

Graeber was Jewish and was vocal about accusations of antisemitism against Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party. Graeber said:

It’s stupid to cry wolf when there are real wolves baying at the door, especially when the people you’re crying wolf against are the guys who are most likely to defend us when the wolves show up.

Leaving a legacy

Activists around the world are in shock and are using social media to express how much they will miss Graeber:

Graeber leaves behind a wealth of knowledge in his books and interviews which will continue to influence people for generations to come. Rest in Power, David: you were a true comrade.

Featured image via Steve Rhodes

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    1. Graeber is a great loss. The voices in favour of real democracy are few. He was able to explain in clear terms how an anarchist culture can work; in fact, how it is the essence of society and how the forms taken to be indispensable – the State and all its agencies, business and all its accoutrements- are parasitic. The best thing we can do is to continue his legacy. Little mention of him the MSM, of course. Not the kind of person whose life and work the elite want in people’s heads. As even representative democracy is under threat, we need to put the argument for self-government ever more persistently.

      He will be remembered long after the time-servers are forgotten.

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