People & Politics: Democracy and Global Rage, conversation with David Graeber

Part of Season 1 of our People and Politics series, that aims to delve beneath the surface of some of the most urgent political and social issues facing both young and old in the UK and beyond. This season’s focus is Democracy in the 21st Century.

David Graeber is an American anthropologist, activist, author and teacher at the London School of Economics. Formerly at Yale and Goldsmiths, he is heavily involved in political and economic activism, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Graeber is a self-described anarchist, having been heavily involved in protests against the World Economic Forum in New York City, and the 3rd Summit of the Americas in Quebec City. He is also a widely-respected academic, described by Maurice Bloch as “the best anthropological theorist of his generation from anywhere in the world”, and an expert on the anthropology of Madagascar, having written his dissertation on magic, slavery, and politics on the island.

An acclaimed writer, Graeber has authored the highly successful “Debt: The First 5,000 Years”; “The Democracy Project”, which discusses the Occupy Wall Street Movement; and “The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy”; among many others. He is currently Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics.

Join us for a captivating interview and discussion on the issues of Globalisation and Global Democracy, particularly across The European Union and its consequences on democratic engagement in its member countries.

Some of the questions we will be asking David:

Globalisation, do we really understand what it entails? Does globalisation empower, or disempower, the world’s citizens? What are the non-economic (i.e. socio-political) consequences of globalisation? How do we understand it in the context of colonialism and neo-colonialism? Do we want more, or less, global integration? How do we regulate our new supra-national organisations and keep them accountable (e.g. the IMF, World Bank, EU)? How do we make sense of “The New Development Bank”? What are the frameworks within which globalisation can function? Do the EU’s institutions, e.g. the European Central Bank and the Euro, empower or disempower its member states?

All guests will have the opportunity to ask questions.

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