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davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
David Graeber Institute
@davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
18K followers 2.7K following 960 posts
A platform for projects related to David Graeber’s legacy, developing his ideas and projects that will take on a life of their own, continuing and contributing to his work.

https://davidgraeber.institute
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davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Friday 20th February, there will be a livestream on our Youtube page with Michael Hudson and Kathleen Tyson.

They'll discuss Sanctions, Accelerating Globalization and the effects on the Global South.

www.youtube.com/live/g8mCRME...
Michael Hudson & Kathleen Tyson - Sanctions, "accelerating globalization,"
YouTube video by Institute of David Graeber
www.youtube.com
February 10, 2026 at 5:20 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
annguidry.bsky.social
Exactly right. I was laid off in February 2025 and stopped requesting unemployment benefits after just a few months because the system was mainly punitive, exhausting to manage, and wasted time I could have spent looking for work. Still don’t have full-time work.
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social David Graeber Institute @davidgraeberinst.bsky.social · 2d
We need to be talking about Universal Basic Income.
“Being poor is actually a full-time job and being broke is like a full-time job with the amount of paperwork and the time going from office to office proving what you have done. . With Universal Basic Income all that would be eliminated with the time liberated to do something socially productive.” — David Graeber
February 9, 2026 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
We need to be talking about Universal Basic Income.
“Being poor is actually a full-time job and being broke is like a full-time job with the amount of paperwork and the time going from office to office proving what you have done. . With Universal Basic Income all that would be eliminated with the time liberated to do something socially productive.” — David Graeber
February 9, 2026 at 3:36 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
We need to be talking about Universal Basic Income.
“Being poor is actually a full-time job and being broke is like a full-time job with the amount of paperwork and the time going from office to office proving what you have done. . With Universal Basic Income all that would be eliminated with the time liberated to do something socially productive.” — David Graeber
February 9, 2026 at 3:36 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
David Graeber explained why jobs that often do quite a lot of damage to society, those jobs tend to be very highly paid.
February 8, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
As a society, we need to stop treating people in debt as if they are criminals who committed a crime.
The wealthy have a million ways to wriggle out of their debts, and as a result, when government debt is transferred to the private sector, that debt always gets passed down on to those least able to pay it: into middle-class mortgages, payday loans, and so on. The people running the government know this but they’ve learned if you just keep repeating, “We’re just trying to behave responsibly! Families have to balance their books. Well, so do we,” people will just assume that the government running a surplus will somehow make it easier for all of us to do so too. But in fact the reality is precisely the opposite: if the government manages to balance its books, that often means you can’t balance yours. – David Graeber
February 7, 2026 at 5:06 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
As a society, we need to stop treating people in debt as if they are criminals who committed a crime.
The wealthy have a million ways to wriggle out of their debts, and as a result, when government debt is transferred to the private sector, that debt always gets passed down on to those least able to pay it: into middle-class mortgages, payday loans, and so on. The people running the government know this but they’ve learned if you just keep repeating, “We’re just trying to behave responsibly! Families have to balance their books. Well, so do we,” people will just assume that the government running a surplus will somehow make it easier for all of us to do so too. But in fact the reality is precisely the opposite: if the government manages to balance its books, that often means you can’t balance yours. – David Graeber
February 7, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
From David Graeber's Utopia Of Rules.
Women are always expected to imagine the world from a male point of view. Men are almost never expected to do the same for women. This runs so deep that many men react to any suggestion that they might do otherwise as if it were itself an act of violence."
February 3, 2026 at 6:14 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
From David Graeber's Utopia Of Rules.
Women are always expected to imagine the world from a male point of view. Men are almost never expected to do the same for women. This runs so deep that many men react to any suggestion that they might do otherwise as if it were itself an act of violence."
February 3, 2026 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
It never ends well when one person has a lot of power over another.
"Anarchism is just the way people act when they are free to do as they choose, and when they deal with others who are equally free, and therefore aware of the responsibility to others that entails. This leads to another crucial point: that while people can be reasonable and considerate when they are dealing with equals, human nature is such that they cannot be trusted to do so when given power over others. Give someone such power, they will almost invariably abuse it in some way or another." . - David Graeber
February 1, 2026 at 4:01 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
It never ends well when one person has a lot of power over another.
"Anarchism is just the way people act when they are free to do as they choose, and when they deal with others who are equally free, and therefore aware of the responsibility to others that entails. This leads to another crucial point: that while people can be reasonable and considerate when they are dealing with equals, human nature is such that they cannot be trusted to do so when given power over others. Give someone such power, they will almost invariably abuse it in some way or another." . - David Graeber
February 1, 2026 at 4:01 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
We’ve just set up on UpScrolled. Twitter friends, if you’re around, come say hi and show us around.
graeber@social on upscrolled.
February 1, 2026 at 3:34 AM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
nikadubrovsky.bsky.social
We’ve just set up on UpScrolled. If you’re around, come say hi and show us around. We are @graeber.social like always.
January 31, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Story from the book Bullshit Jobs about how David Graeber learnt a lesson regarding the world of work.
"I remember my first job as a dishwasher in a seaside Italian restaurant. I was one of three teenage boys hired at the start of the summer season, and the first time there was a mad rush, we naturally made a game of it, determined to prove that we were the best and most heroic dishwashers of all time, pulling together into a machine of lightning efficiency, producing a vast and sparkling pile of dishes in record time. . We then kicked back, proud of what we'd accomplished, pausing to smoke a cigarette until, of course, the boss showed up to ask us what the hell we were doing just lounging around. "I don't care if there are no more dishes coming in right now, you're on my time! You can goof around on your own time. Get back to work." Of course, we learned our lesson: if you're on the clock, do not be too efficient. You will not be rewarded, not even by a gruff nod of acknowledgment. Instead, you'll be punished with meaningless busywork." ... - David Graeber
January 31, 2026 at 4:42 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Story from the book Bullshit Jobs about how David Graeber learnt a lesson regarding the world of work.
"I remember my first job as a dishwasher in a seaside Italian restaurant. I was one of three teenage boys hired at the start of the summer season, and the first time there was a mad rush, we naturally made a game of it, determined to prove that we were the best and most heroic dishwashers of all time, pulling together into a machine of lightning efficiency, producing a vast and sparkling pile of dishes in record time. . We then kicked back, proud of what we'd accomplished, pausing to smoke a cigarette until, of course, the boss showed up to ask us what the hell we were doing just lounging around. "I don't care if there are no more dishes coming in right now, you're on my time! You can goof around on your own time. Get back to work." Of course, we learned our lesson: if you're on the clock, do not be too efficient. You will not be rewarded, not even by a gruff nod of acknowledgment. Instead, you'll be punished with meaningless busywork." ... - David Graeber
January 31, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Most work is caring for other people.
“I would propose that we just rip up the discipline of economics as it exists and start over. This is my proposal in this regard: I think we should take the ideas of production and consumption, throw them away, and substitute for them the idea of care and freedom. As feminists point out, even if you are making a bridge, you are making a bridge because you care that people can get across the river. You make a car because you care that people can get around. So even production is just one subordinate type of care as what we do as human beings is take care of each other.” — David Graeber
January 31, 2026 at 1:06 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Most work is caring for other people.
“I would propose that we just rip up the discipline of economics as it exists and start over. This is my proposal in this regard: I think we should take the ideas of production and consumption, throw them away, and substitute for them the idea of care and freedom. As feminists point out, even if you are making a bridge, you are making a bridge because you care that people can get across the river. You make a car because you care that people can get around. So even production is just one subordinate type of care as what we do as human beings is take care of each other.” — David Graeber
January 31, 2026 at 1:06 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Our stream is starting now on Decolonization and African History!

www.youtube.com/live/RvoB6mg...
January 29, 2026 at 6:02 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
If you are interested in Decolonization and African History, we have a stream about to start on the topics!

www.youtube.com/live/RvoB6mg...
January 29, 2026 at 5:22 PM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
Tomorrow we will host a livestream about Decolonization.

Kadija George Sesay who is a literary activist, writer, and scholar, she will speak and answer your questions. Come along!

www.youtube.com/live/RvoB6mg...
The Decolonisation of Radical Black Publishers with Kadija George Sesay
YouTube video by Institute of David Graeber
www.youtube.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
"Direct action means insisting on your right to act as if you’re already free. If someone is doing something bad, you try to stop them, in the way you’d hope anyone would act in a free and just society. If a bunch of cops intervene, you do not treat them like authorities, you act as if they were a bunch of guys in blue costumes with weapons — that is, basically, a violent street gang." . - David Graeber
January 26, 2026 at 4:19 AM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
The actor, Edward Norton, calls for a General Strike!

"What they are doing in Minnesota with the strike needs to expand. We should be talking about a national General and Economic Strike."
January 26, 2026 at 7:08 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
The actor, Edward Norton, calls for a General Strike!

"What they are doing in Minnesota with the strike needs to expand. We should be talking about a national General and Economic Strike."
January 26, 2026 at 7:08 AM
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
"Direct action means insisting on your right to act as if you’re already free. If someone is doing something bad, you try to stop them, in the way you’d hope anyone would act in a free and just society. If a bunch of cops intervene, you do not treat them like authorities, you act as if they were a bunch of guys in blue costumes with weapons — that is, basically, a violent street gang." . - David Graeber
January 26, 2026 at 4:19 AM
Reposted by David Graeber Institute
davidgraeberinst.bsky.social
They want you to feel hopeless and believe that nothing can improve.
"Hopelessness isn’t natural. It needs to be produced. If we really want to understand this situation, we have to begin by understanding that for decades we have seen the construction of a vast bureaucratic apparatus for the creation and maintenance of hopelessness, a kind of giant machine that is designed, first and foremost, to destroy any sense of possible alternative futures." . - David Graeber
January 23, 2026 at 6:39 PM