Discussing a New Anthropology of Bureaucracy: Part I
David Graeber
Jonathan
Jul 19, 202624 September 2015
Vote
David Graeber, Laura Bear and Nayanika Mathur were recently in conversation at the London School of Economics on the anthropology of bureaucracy. They reflected on the connections between their recent publications that propose a new anthropology of bureaucracy.
Transcript
Summary
The discussion examines bureaucracy as an emotionally charged social system shaped by race, colonialism, privatization, and financialization. It compares postal systems, railways, and digital networks across the U.S., Europe, India, and Madagascar to show how public institutions can be reframed as sites of service, control, or violence.
Open the interactive transcript
Search every word, jump to any moment, and follow along with the audio.
