Utopia of Rules. On Technologies, Foolishness, and the Secret Charm of Bureaucracy

In "Utopia of Rules," American anthropologist David Graeber (1961-2020) attempts to expose the ubiquitous yet often hidden modern bureaucracy that shapes all of us. He traces the origins of total regulation of social life to the philosophy of the Pythagoreans, who considered "rationality a value in itself" and devised the way of thinking about the world that allows bureaucracy to "turn itself into a grand cosmological scheme." Touching on such diverse topics as the rise of right-wing economists and the hidden meanings in the stories of Sherlock Holmes and Batman, "Utopia of Rules" combines a deep perspective on social theory in the traditions of Marx and Foucault with an engaging analysis of popular culture that recalls Slavoj Žižek in his most accessible form.